EU state moves forward with Ukraine-style church crackdown
Religious organizations in Estonia could be ordered to cut all ties with the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC) under legislation approved by the government on Thursday, Interior Minister Lauri Laanemets has told Estonian media.
The amendment to the law on churches and parishes, submitted by Laanemets, has been sent to the EU nation’s parliament. If approved, the Estonian Orthodox Church (EOC), as well as other religious associations and societies, will have two months to bring their charters, board composition and activities into compliance with the new legislation.
An explanatory letter attached to the new bill states that all religious organizations in Estonia must “exclude leadership by a person or association with significant influence and located in a foreign state if it poses a threat to the security, constitutional order or public order of the Estonian state, supports military aggression or calls for war, a terrorist crime or other illegal use of armed force or violence.”
Laanemets said the initiative was “necessary” because the Orthodox Church, which has canonical ties to the Moscow Patriarchate, is “the most important instrument of influence for Russia and the Kremlin in Estonia,” and that this “must be stopped.”
Last year, the minister threatened to close Orthodox Christian monasteries in the country if they failed to sever ties with the ROC. He also announced that he was preparing a proposal to the Estonian parliament to officially label the ROC a terrorist organization and ban its activities in the country.
The EOC previously stated that it does not intend to unilaterally cut its canonical ties with the Moscow Patriarchy, arguing that that the ROC has not done anything that would force such a move.
Nevertheless, in August, the Council of the EOC of the Moscow Patriarchate approved a revision of its charter, removing the mention of the Moscow Patriarchate from the name of the church. Laanemets stated at the time that this was not enough, and claimed that Moscow still had influence over the EOC.
Russia has strongly condemned Estonia’s efforts to sever the EOC from the ROC and enact laws that would restrict the ROC’s operations, calling them violations of religious freedom, discrimination against Orthodox believers, and interference in religious affairs on the part of the Estonian government.
