After nine years as an independent journalist and translator, François Lavallou (a.k.a. Ferenc Almássy) dramatically changed his life this year by joining the French Catholic NGO, SOS Chrétiens d’Orient, to help Christians in need. The dual French-Hungarian citizen was born and raised in Paris but moved to Budapest in 2010. It was there that he founded the conservative news site Visegrád Post in 2016. He is also the co-author of the book, Viktor Orbán, 12 ans au pouvoir. He has been living in Ethiopia since June of this year. We recently spoke to him about his new role.
What is the purpose of SOS Chrétiens d’Orient (SOS Christians of the East)?
The organisation aims to help Eastern Christians who are suffering terrible persecution. We have found that wherever there are traditional Christians, they are a factor of stability and peace. Even in Muslim-majority countries, the authorities recognise the work of the ancient Christian communities for greater peace and coexistence, communities which have been there since before the arrival of Islam. This is something that many people are unaware of, and it is the reason why some Catholics in France decided to create this brotherhood. If we help Christians to stay in their countries, we are helping peace and prosperity. Moreover, this stability is also good for Europe: if countries are more stable and secure, fewer people will want to emigrate.
SOS Chrétiens d’Orient is an NGO funded by Catholics, not by the French state. The truth is that the authorities don’t like us because they don’t like Catholics. We are growing and looking for new volunteers, and we have set up new delegations in Belgium, Italy, Switzerland, and the United States. Our mission in Ethiopia has just begun, but we are present in many other countries: Armenia, Egypt, Jordan, Iraq, Lebanon, and even Pakistan, where Christians are being persecuted. We are proof that many small actions can together make a big difference. In Iraq, we made a difference in places where the Islamic State wanted to wipe the Christian presence off the face of the earth. We have helped Christians to rebuild their homes, to stay in the land of their ancestors, and to look to the future when they had no hope. That is something a state cannot do.
Why did you begin this project? Was there a call to adventure in your decision?
I was in my mid-thirties, didn’t have a family of my own, and had been working as a freelance journalist for nearly a decade. The truth is that I was looking for something challenging; and yes, my decision was a response to a certain call for adventure. But I have always been motivated to do something useful, something I can believe in. That’s why I became a journalist: I believed that whatever I could bring to the table, even if it were small, would be useful for people to better understand politics in Central Europe, because I was based in Budapest.
I also wanted to get out of my comfort zone. So, when SOS Chrétiens d’Orient contacted me, I had no hesitation. For me it is a new chapter that is at the same time challenging, useful, and—above all—a good thing. I firmly believe that.
What is the situation like in Ethiopia?
Most people don’t know anything about Ethiopia, and I must confess that I didn’t either before I came here. It is a Christian-majority country and has a very ancient Christian tradition. Abyssinia, as Ethiopia was called, was once the oldest Christian kingdom after Armenia and Georgia. They have been Christian for more than 15 centuries and, although they were isolated, they developed a Christianity of their own, separate from the Western world. I will not go into details, but it is worth knowing this history The question is: What is SOS Chrétiens d’Orient doing here, if Christians are the historic majority? The answer is that the country has been very unstable since the 20th century. Ethiopia resisted Italian colonisation, something of which they are very proud, but, after World War II, the country fell into the hands of a Marxist military regime that lasted until the early 1990s. Ethiopia suffered major famines in the 1980s, which is when most people in the West learned something about Ethiopia, and then a civil war split the country in two, between Ethiopia and Eritrea. Today it is the second most populous country in Africa, with around 120-130 million inhabitants. The population has tripled in 30 years, and this increase in population, coupled with political intrigue, has meant that it is no longer one of the safest countries on the continent, as it once was.
Is it the same in the capital?
No; Addis Ababa is the exception to what happens in the rest of the country. I’ve been living here for two months and I haven’t felt any sense of danger. In fact, I feel safer here than in Paris. The people are decent and have a lot of respect for foreigners. I have always been treated with absolute respect and kindness. Before coming here, I was worried about this, but I have to say that I have been pleasantly surprised. Except for the bureaucracy, Addis Ababa is a good place to live.
And the economic situation?
Economically speaking, Ethiopia is trying to take its place between the West and the BRICS, which Ethiopia officially joined earlier this year. China is very present in the Ethiopian economy and, if I recall correctly, its investments account for 20% of the country’s GDP. Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed Ali is modernising cities at a very fast pace, and new roads and buildings are constantly being constructed.
That development also explains our presence here, and it is another reason why we want to promote stability in this fascinating country, which is one of the most important in Africa and the largest in East Africa. The headquarters of the African Union is in Addis Ababa, so we can say that it is the diplomatic capital of the continent. And we have to see this from a European perspective because, if we want Europe’s borders to be secure, we need stable countries outside of Europe with whom to cooperate in order to avoid large migrations.
Are there any Western countries with a significant presence in Ethiopia?
It is very interesting to see how Ethiopia tries to remain an independent country whilst working with China and India but also with the West. Germany has one of its biggest economic missions in the world here. France and Italy are also present, and Italy in particular is helping Ethiopia to recover its lost archaeological treasures and to open new museums. Both the West and the BRICS are here, but Ethiopia strives to maintain control and does not want an external country to dominate it economically. Its resistance to colonisation is a cornerstone of its national history, and Ethiopia seeks to be a platform in Africa between the West and the BRICS. It is fascinating to see this on the ground.
Is it possible, as has happened in other countries in the region, for jihadist terrorism to emerge?
Fortunately, I do not think there is a serious risk of that in Ethiopia. Traditionally, Muslims have more or less coexisted with Christians in the region, and religion is not segregated, with Muslims and Christians alike being part of the same ethnic group. Moreover, the central power has prevented the proliferation of extremist groups, and for that reason jihadism has not taken root in Ethiopia. Of course, there is no guarantee that this will not happen, and a change in government due to instability could open the door to the arrival of terrorist groups. Care must be taken to ensure that this does not happen because, as I have already mentioned, Europe needs strong and stable external countries to also combat terrorism.
Right now, this is not the biggest threat. What concerns us, and one of the main reasons we are here, are regions that are either very poor or, like Tigray, were the scene of a terrible war that left 600,000 civilians dead between 2020 and 2022, and caused more than a million refugees. I have been in Tigray bringing aid through a network that belongs mostly to the Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church, with the aim of getting people to remain, and rebuild their lives and their homes. We focus as much as we can on sustainability projects that bring solutions to local communities. For example, we fund the construction of a Catholic school because it helps families stay in their homes. The fact that their children can study and go back to school is an important motivation for the community. In the Amhara region we are supporting the construction of a mill to provide the community with food and economic autonomy so that they do not have to leave their homes and migrate to cities or abroad. That is what we do.
The killing of Christians by jihadist groups is increasingly common across parts of Africa, but there is a resounding silence or indifference in most Western media. Why do you think that is?
There are several reasons for this. The first is the difficulty of working on the ground. If you are a foreigner, if you are white, you are going to be seen from afar and, generally speaking, neither the population nor the authorities are going to make it easy for you to do your work (not to mention the danger of the territory due to the presence of jihadist groups). On the other hand, it is very difficult for the West to understand the motivation of conflicts in Africa, and it is not understood that ethnic identity and ethnic tensions are, for many, the main reason for their politics. Religion is present, but ethnic identity is the most important determinate in these conflicts.
For Westerners, it is very difficult to talk about this for fear of being labelled ‘racist.’ Bernard Lugan, who is a renowned historian of Africa and was an expert witness at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR), is revered in Africa for his knowledge of these conflicts and for his understanding of their ethnic causes; yet this topic of ‘ethnic politics’ cannot be discussed in the West because it is considered a taboo subject. But it is a fact. Unfortunately, we have a very limited view of Africa and the dynamics going on there.
As a Frenchman, can you comment on how the grotesque spectacle of the opening ceremony of the 2024 Olympic Games was perceived in Addis Ababa?
What I saw in Addis Ababa was that people who follow international political events—be they Christians, Muslims, or non-believers—were asking themselves: ‘What is this?!’ For them, it was a provocation that they could not understand: ‘How can you be so disrespectful?’ I don’t speak Amharic, but sometimes you don’t need to understand the words; instead, one can just look at the faces and the tone of the conversations. Ethiopians were disgusted; they found the ceremony shameful and saw it as yet another provocation by a West that believes itself to be morally superior. On the whole, Ethiopians are devout, decent people who have a very different view of what ‘woke’ represents, and even the most left-wing people in the country were unable to understand such madness. It is impossible for them to accept, and it contributes to their alienation from the West—because they will not want to deal with the West or accept its influence.
I had to explain to them that I was totally against what this woke ceremony represented: they associated me with this mentality because I am French and European. They asked me: ‘Is that what you want to bring here?’ It’s an uncomfortable question. Every time the West does something like [what we saw at the Olympics], it cuts more ties with the rest of the world. Of course, these ties are not cut overnight but step by step. Such disrespectful acts gradually weaken diplomatic, political, and economic ties with these countries—and that is a danger.
This essay appears in the Winter 2024 issue of The European Conservative, Number 33:67-70.
