On 12 February, 2018, Dr. Csaba Rada, Head of the Representative Office of Hungary in Ramallah handed over the Grant Certificate for the reconstruction of the Church of the Nativity to Ziad Bandak President of the Palestinian Presidential Committee for the Restoration of the Church. The ceremony took place at the Presidential Palace in Bethlehem in the presence of Anton Salaman Mayor of Bethlehem and members of the Presidential Committee.
In his speech Ziad Bandak thanked that Hungary was providing the financial support for the renovation for the second time. He highlighted Hungary's contribution in 2011, which was the very first donor participation in the reconstruction.
Csaba Rada expressed his happiness that Hungary had the opportunity to support one of the most important Christian holy sites for the second time. He underlined that it was of particularly importance to Hungary to provide help for the Christian churches and communities in the Middle East. The Head of Mission said that our international development cooperation is focused on Bethlehem and its neighbourhood, besides our efforts in the whole area of Palestine in the areas of education and institution-building.
The news of the ceremony was also published on the webpage of the Restoration of The Church of The Nativity: http://nativityrestoration.ps/component/k2/item/180-official-ceremony-of-the-grant-certificate-hand-over-of-the-second-hungarian-donation.
