Roman Catholic leader Pope Francis arrived in Hungary on Friday for a three-day visit that's likely to be dominated by the war in Ukraine and his meeting with nationalist Prime Minister Viktor Orban, whose views often run counter to his own.
The 86-year-old Argentine pontiff will remain in the capital Budapest during his trip due to his fragile health a month after being hospitalised for bronchitis.
The Pope arrived just before 10am local time in the Hungarian capital, where key roads have been blocked for days as part of a major security operation surrounding his visit.
"I am happy ... the world's attention is on Hungary. This country has a slightly negative image ... perhaps it will be a little positive now," said Laszlo Temesi, a retired journalist who was among those lining the streets to try to catch a glimpse of the pontiff.
Annamaria Szentesi, a 32-year-old, told the French press agency AFP that it was "wonderful" that the pontiff was coming back to Hungary after a brief stop-over in 2021.
"I hope his main message will be one of peace in the world. His words have a lot of power," Szentesi said.
After being received at the presidential palace by President Katalin Novak, who told local media she was brushing up on her Spanish ahead of the visit, Francis will meet with Orban.
"In troubled times like ours, it is essential to remember what keeps us together, and faith is the foundation upon which we can build a stable future," Orban wrote on Twitter.
Pope Francis meets privately with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, exchanging gifts with him.#PopeInHungary pic.twitter.com/cjSOA3k9QT
— Vatican News (@VaticanNews) April 28, 2023
Ukraine peace talks
In power since 2010, the Hungarian premier regularly espouses anti-migration rhetoric to defend a "Christian Europe".
This is at odds with the pontiff's more welcoming stance towards those fleeing poverty or conflict zones.
On the war in Ukraine, both men have called for peace talks with Orban an exception in the EU in insisting to maintain ties with Moscow.
Zoltan Kiszelly, the head of pro-government think tank Szazadveg, said Orban will use the Pope's visit to emphasise shared "traditional values around family and God.
"Domestically, Orban can profit from this visit," Kiszelly said.
During an audience last year at the Vatican, Francis thanked Orban, who comes from a Calvinist background, for welcoming Ukrainians fleeing the war across the border.
Francis' first speech during this visit to Hungary, where 39 percent of the population is Catholic, will be on Friday afternoon when he addresses high-ranking officials, diplomats and members of civil society.
On Sunday, the pontiff said his visit would be made "as a pilgrim, friend and brother of all", and government authorities in Hungary stressed that his visit was "not a political event".
On Saturday, the Pope will meet some Ukrainian refugees.
Francis is the second pope to visit Hungary, after John Paul II made trips in 1991 and 1996.
Invitation to Kyiv
Earlier this week, Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal invited Pope Francis to visit his country, during a meeting at the Vatican, where he also asked for help in ensuring the return of children forcibly taken to Russia.
He said he had discussed with the 86-year-old Pope the peace plan proposed by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to end the war sparked by Russia's invasion last year.
This included "discussing in a little more detail the different steps the Vatican could take" to help Kyiv achieve its goals, the prime minister said, speaking through an Italian translator.
"For example, I asked for the participation, assistance from the Vatican, from His Holiness, for the return to Ukraine of children, some of whom were orphaned, who were taken away by force, mainly to Russia."
More than 16,000 Ukrainian children have been deported to Russia since the February 2022 invasion, according to Kyiv, with many allegedly placed in institutions and foster homes. Russia denies the allegations, saying instead it has saved Ukrainian children from the horrors of war.
'Far-right terrorists' pardoned on eve of Pope's visit
Just before the Pope arrived in Hungary, President Novak issued a pardon to the jailed far-right leader, György Budaházy, who was convicted for attacks on politicians in the late 2000s.
"The week of the papal visit is a special occasion for the head of state to exercise the power of pardon," Novak said late Thursday.
The "wide pardon" included members of the defunct far-right Hunnia (Arrows of the Hungarians) paramilitary group, she said.
Opposition leader and former Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsany blasted the pardon as "crazy and dishonest".
Sandor Csintalan, a former socialist leader and victim of a Hunnia attack, called it "sacrilege".
Szabolcs Panyi, who is with one of Hungary's few remaining independent media, said that Novak used the Pope's visit as an "excuse" to pardon a convicted far-right terrorist ... "after today's pardon, my country has become a more dangerous place, not only for Jews but for other minority groups too," he tweeted.
Unbelievable: using @Pontifex's visit to Budapest as an excuse, Hungarian President @KatalinNovakMP pardons convicted far-right terrorist György Budaházy and other members of his so-called Hunnia Movement terrorist cell. Their prison sentence is now suspended.
— Szabolcs Panyi (@panyiszabolcs) April 27, 2023
Between 2007-2008,… pic.twitter.com/FJbcXTpZrT
(with wires)
