Deputy Prime Minister Zsolt Semjén met with Advisor to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Christian affairs Ziad Al-Bandak and discussed among others the restoration of Bethlehem’s Church of the Nativity and an increase in the number of Palestinian students.

Deputy Prime Minister Zsolt Semjén declared that the Hungarian Government is providing one hundred thousand euros towards the restoration of Bethlehem’s Church of the Nativity, adding that Hungary had gained Christianity from the Holy Land, and so considered it important for the country to be the first foreign state to contribute to the restoration process.

According to Deputy Prime Minister Zsolt Semjén, nine Palestinian students have already received scholarships funded by the Hungarian Government and their number will now increase to eleven. Advisor to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Christian Affairs Ziad Al-Bandak expressed that Hungary had been the first to support the restoration of Bethlehem’s Church of the Nativity and this example had then been followed by other states. He said that at the meeting, the two parties had discussed topics that could facilitate further cooperation between the two countries, relating to for example education, the economy and religious affairs.

(Prime Minister’s Office)