BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — Hungary says it is setting up a special department to coordinate the assistance and rescue of persecuted Christians around the world.

Janos Lazar, Prime Minister Viktor Orban's chief of staff, said Thursday that the 10-person office will seek to organize international aid for persecuted Christians when the work of private and nonprofit groups proves insufficient.

Lazar says the new department within the Ministry of Human Resources was inspired by a recent trip the prime minister took to Rome, where he met with representatives of Eastern Christian churches.

Lazar says the meetings made clear "there would be a great need for European government organizations to take this issue more seriously."

Orban has said that taking in large numbers of Muslim refugees will destroy Europe's Christian identity.