Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban met the leaders of the Syrian Christian churches on Friday, Bertalan Havasi, head of the PM's Press Office, told Hungary's state news agency (MTI).

Patriarch Ignatius Aphrem II of the Syriac Orthodox Church, Patriarch Youssef Absi of the Melkite Greek Catholic Church of Syria and Patriarch John X of the Greek Orthodox Church of Antioch thanked Hungary and its government for the help extended in the aftermath of the earthquake in February.

The natural disaster in Turkey and the northern part of Syria caused serious damage to both human life and property.

The press chief recalled that through the Hungary Helps Programme, Hungary supplied 50 million Hungarian forints (about 125 thousand euros) to the Hungarian Charity Service of the Order of Malta to deploy three mobile medical units in the Syrian region affected by the earthquake. In addition, Hungary plans to offer further donations to the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) to be distributed in the north-eastern part of Syria.