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Paolo Inselvini (L) and Nicolas Bay MEP (R) during their recent trip to Lebanon
Nicolas Bay is a French Member of the European Parliament and Vice-President of the European Conservatives and Reformers (ECR) Group. He is member of Reconquete, a party founded by former French Presidential candidate, Éric Zemmour in 2021. We have met the French MEP in the Slovakian capital Bratislava, where we have asked him about the worldwide persecution of Christians, including the ones in Europe.
We have met at the Conservative Summit in Bratislava. You may have received a taste of what the cooperation between Christian conservatives in Central Europe looks like. What impressions did you get, and what did you take away with you to Brussels or France that you would want to implement?
These conservative meetings and events are multiplying throughout Europe, organized by political movements, associations, universities, media outlets, think tanks, etc. They are a demonstration of both a true intellectual effervescence and indignation at “wokism” and all attempts to destroy our Christian identity and values. This indignation does not lead to resignation but, on the contrary, to a surge of energy, action and hope!
Everywhere, the foundations and Christian spirit of our societies are under attack, politically and culturally, but sometimes also physically. In times of crisis, we must close ranks to find solutions and defend ourselves effectively.
It is true that cooperation between Christian organizations in Central Europe is particularly dynamic. This is an excellent thing that needs to be developed in Western Europe, where such initiatives do exist but struggle to gain real momentum and go beyond the directly political and partisan spheres.
The French MEP during his address in Bratislava, Slovakia. Photo: X Nicolas Bay
You have recently visited Lebanon. Christians are caught in the conflict between Israelis and Muslim paramilitary groups. Tell us more about your experience, and how do you see the survival of Christians in the region?
During our stay in Lebanon, my Italian colleague Paolo Inselvini and I had the opportunity to meet with numerous political leaders and local religious authorities. These rich discussions allowed us to understand what Christians in the East endure on a daily basis. They are true martyrs. For decades now, they have been victims of Islamist terrorism, growing instability in the region and various conflicts between Israel and Hezbollah.
With our ECR group in Brussels, we continue to defend persecuted Christians around the world. From the very first year of this term of office, we have tabled resolutions to protect persecuted Christians around the world: the protection of Christians in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the defense of all religious groups in Syria after the attack on the Mar Elias church in Damascus, and support for Armenians persecuted by the authoritarian regime in Baku. We are fighting this battle so that they are not forgotten and so that one day they can finally live in peace.
My stay in Lebanon was therefore a very enriching and deeply moving experience. With my colleague and the Bishop of Tyre, Mgr Iskandar, we traveled to the south of the country, close to the areas affected by the tensions. The bishop spoke to us with great gravity about what these Christian communities experience on a daily basis.
The families who have remained there live in constant fear, to the rhythm of the bombings, in total uncertainty about tomorrow. We were told a chilling illustration of the brutality of their daily lives: on Christmas Day, the church in Yaroun, a village near the Israeli border, was hit by bombing.
#RedWednesday lit up landmarks from Budapest to Bogotá, Sydney to The Hague — calling global attention to persecuted Christians.
Hungary joined the initiative to say: we see you, we hear you, and we stand with you. Hope you see us too.https://t.co/tB9wPyUVs4
— HungaryHelps ن (@HungaryHelps) November 20, 2025
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Christians are often seen as collateral damage in the constant conflicts of the Middle East. Why is there no outcry in Europe, let alone any initiatives to stand by them? How can we help them, and what is your party’s position on standing by our fellow believers?
It is true that European governments are doing little to protect Christians in the Middle East. However, there are initiatives coming from civil society and opposition groups to help them.
As MEPs, we regularly raise these issues during plenary sessions and meetings of the ‘Christians in the Middle East’ intergroup. We defend resolutions, question the Commission and remind them that religious freedom – particularly that of Christians – must be a priority for Member States.
Furthermore, Europeans are mobilizing to help these populations. I would like to pay special tribute to the association SOS Chrétiens d’Orient, which for years has been sending volunteers to the field to support Christian communities, families and religious leaders living there.
Currently the Hungarian government is the only one that has a state secretariat dedicated specifically for aiding persecuted Christians around the world, and has the Hungary Helps program running. In case Reconqueste was able to join a government in the future, would you advocate setting up a similar section?
What the Hungarian government is doing to defend Christians around the world is very important. It would be necessary to have this type of initiative in more European countries, particularly in France.
France has a very strong historical link with Eastern Christians dating back to the Middle Ages. A tradition of protection was initiated by Louis IX. This role of protector has continued throughout the centuries, as with Napoleon III’s intervention after the massacres of 1860 in Lebanon and Syria. However, in the last century, this protection has not been constant and has exposed Christian communities to risks, leading them to feel a certain sense of abandonment. This is truly tragic, and it is time for France to resume this ancestral tradition.
However, we must not forget that Christians are also persecuted in Europe and France today. In 2021, half of all anti-religious acts in France were directed against the Christian community, according to the French Ministry of the Interior. This explosion of attacks against Christians is unfortunately a phenomenon that has been ignored in Europe.
Photo: X Nicolas Bay
Some members of the Patriots for Europe in the EP have individually voiced their opinion on the issues, but why is there no joint strategy on protecting Christianity in Europe and forming a front against the genocide against Christians in the Middle East and Africa
Together with the ECR Group, on the initiative of my compatriot Laurence Trochu, we asked the European Commission to create a position of European coordinator for combating Christianophobia in Parliament. The Commission already has two positions of coordinators for combating attacks on religions: one dedicated to antisemitism and the other to Islamophobia.
This proves that the fight against Christianophobia is secondary for the Ursula von der Leyen Commission.
I believe that the proposal to create a coordinator for combating Christianophobia is very important, both symbolically and politically.
Photo: X Nicolas Bay
Middle Eastern Christian believers at the Bratislava conference have warned us that if we abandon them, it will come back to us in Europe, and we will eventually experience what they do. Do you agree with this?
I fully agree with this analysis. What is at stake today for Christians in the East is not just a distant problem. The same ideologies that seek to drive them from their historic lands are at work in Europe: Islamist terrorism, driven by hatred of our civilization, the desire to erase the Christian roots of our societies. When churches are burned, when priests are attacked, when the faithful no longer feel safe to practice their faith in France or elsewhere in Europe, it is the same phenomenon.
Abandoning the Christians in the Middle East would be a moral failing, but also a strategic error for Europe.
Their presence is a factor of balance and stability in the Middle East. Defending the Christians who are persecuted there also means protecting our own future here.
That is why we must act on two fronts: providing concrete support to Christian communities on the ground through humanitarian, diplomatic and political aid, while at the same time defending our roots, our values and Christianity in Europe. In reality, it is one and the same struggle: the defense of Christianity, in the East as in the West.
The Chapel of Our Lady in Beirut, Lebanon. Photo: Pixabay
Fact
Lebanon was one of the first places Christianity spread to in the first century AD. Sidon, on the Lebanese coast, is mentioned in Acts (27:3). It is the Maronite Church that has had the biggest influence in Lebanon and its history. In the 4th century, Maronite Christians moved into the Lebanese mountains, their monasteries in the Kadisha Valley are some of the oldest in the world.
Although part of the Catholic church, it developed independently and has a unique character. The Maronite community lived for many centuries in the seclusion of the Lebanese mountains. They, and the other indigenous Christian communities (Greek and Syriac Orthodox), resisted assimilation with the Arab conquerors, who moved into the Levant in the 7th century.
Christians in Lebanon, mainly the Maronites, own more than 640 regions in Lebanon, including cities/villages.
The Maronites exist in every corner of Lebanon, in every city, and in every village (1302), while on the other side, the Muslims can’t even pass the 500 cities/villages. https://t.co/kCjT4PYoGN pic.twitter.com/GhHdgd3jGT— Charbel ☨̶∆ (@Charbel______lf) January 19, 2025
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Armenian Christians are also significant in terms of numbers. Many fled to Lebanon during the Armenian Genocide in 1915, bringing with them their unique Christian heritage.
For much of Lebanon’s history the indigenous Christian community and larger Muslim community have lived in relative harmony. Power-sharing agreements between the Christians and Muslims have been part of Lebanese politics since at least the 19th century and Christians continue to play a significant role in the government and culture of Lebanon today.
Featured Image: X Nicolas Bay
The post “Defending Persecuted Christians Means Protecting Our Own Future”, Warns Nicolas Bay in Our Interview appeared first on Hungary Today.
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