Tristan Azbej stated that he went to the United States to participate in a high-level, international conference on religious freedom and to present the cause of persecuted Christians and the importance of aiding them. Additionally, he aims to gain allies for the Hungary Helps program in the civil and ecclesiastical spheres, as well as within the re-forming Trump administration.

He met with the bishop of the Assyrian Church of the East and discussed the current situation of the church; he reported to him that the Hungary Helps program supported the construction of a church, and they also discussed how Hungary, through the Hungary Helps program, can contribute in collaboration with the American administration and the American community to maintain Christianity in the Middle East and to encourage those who fled to return.

He continued by saying that he met with Chaldean Catholic Christians who are originally from the area of Iraq, who expressed great appreciation for what Hungary has done for them. In the Nineveh Plains, the Hungarian government rebuilt an entire settlement inhabited by Chaldean Catholics through the Hungary Helps program, and besides expressing their appreciation, they also expressed a desire to work together with their Hungarian supporters from America in the future.

Tristan Azbej also mentioned that the American Hungarian Diaspora Organization invited him to give a speech at the annual Hungarian ball held in Chicago.

‘I brought the message of the Hungarian people and the Hungarian government to our compatriots living afar in America, I told them that we jointly profess that every Hungarian is responsible for every other Hungarian, and they can count on the Hungarian government,’ he stated. He added that through the Kőrösi Csoma Program, they support the life of Hungarian communities in the diaspora, ‘but we also ask them to contribute to strengthening Hungary’s relations, especially in light of the revitalizing Hungarian-American relations.

Source: MTI