Yesterday, Hungarian President Katalin Novák traveled to Ukraine to meet with President Zelensky. She visited the country for the annual Crimea Summit—an international meeting focused on the return of Crimea to Ukraine. Tomorrow, she will meet with Pope Francis at the Vatican.
While the Pope and the Hungarian President have met multiple times in the past, tomorrow's meeting falls under the context of the Vatican's peace mission to Ukraine. It is part of their initiative to move the international community towards humanitarian gestures for peace between Russia and Ukraine.
As Ukraine's next-door neighbor, Hungary has played a significant role since the start of the war. According to Hungarian Police statistics, nearly one million Ukrainian refugees have either travelled through or stayed in the country.
And there is also a Hungarian presence in Ukraine—in the southwestern region, a community of over 100,000 ethnic Hungarians have lived since the 9th century.
On his visit to Hungary a few months ago, Pope Francis thanked the country for their reception of refugees.
POPE FRANCIS
Thank you too, for having welcomed – not only with generosity but also with enthusiasm –so many refugees from Ukraine.
Tomorrow's visit with Hungarian President Katalin Novák will be one more step in Pope Francis' peace initiatives.
AT
