Pope Francis has held a meeting with Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orban at the Vatican, discussing the war in Ukraine and related humanitarian issues as well as efforts to promote peace in the region.
Francis also spoke to Mr Orban about the Hungarian presidency of the Council of the European Union, as well as the “central role of the family and the protection of the young generations”, the Vatican said.
During his visit to Hungary last year, the Pope met some 35,000 Ukrainian refugees.
Nearly 2.5 million refugees entered the eastern European country early on in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Mr Orban has repeatedly called for a ceasefire in the war.
But he has refused to supply Kyiv with weapons, and has threatened to veto EU sanctions against Moscow while maintaining Hungary’s strong dependence on Russian energy.
The Hungarian leader also met Vatican Secretary of State Pietro Parolin and Miroslaw Wachowski, the Vatican undersecretary for relations with states.
