Estonian Interior Minister Lauri Läänemets has proposed recognising the Russian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate as a terrorist organisation, ERR reports.
The minister believes that this step will allow the government to ban the Russian Orthodox Church in the country, despite the fact that it has more than 100,000 followers in Estonia. Lauri Läänemets on Estonian National Broadcasting (ERR) said:
Given the available context, I as Minister of the Interior have no choice but to propose to the Riigikogu (Estonian Parliament) that the Moscow Patriarchate be declared terrorist and supporting terrorism in its activities. This will not affect parishioners, it does not mean that churches will be closed, but it does mean that ties with Moscow will be severed.
The minister explained the need to ban the church by the fact that the ROC is controlled by President Vladimir Putin. He noted that the situation with the Orthodox Church was brought to a new level of security by the recent statement adopted by the ROC Council against Western values. According to the minister, the subordination of the Estonian Orthodox Church to Moscow still poses a security threat. The minister stated:
If we draw a parallel, Islamic terrorists also say they are waging a holy war against the Western world and Western values.
At the same time, a spokesman for the Estonian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate told a news conference that the Estonian church is not directly subordinate to the Russian Orthodox Church and cannot be held responsible for statements by church leaders in support of Russia’s military action in Ukraine.
A similar process to ban religious organisations has long been in place in Ukraine. In October 2023, the Ukrainian Parliament passed a bill on the de facto ban of the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) on the territory of the country. It envisages banning the activities of religious organisations if the Ukrainian authorities believe that they are organisationally linked to the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC).
UN Commissioner Volker Türk said that the restrictions against the UOC violate the right and freedom of religion. He also called for allowing the use of all existing languages in Ukraine and protecting the rights of minorities. He said:
I also note my concern about freedom of religion and belief in Ukraine, given the continued actions of the authorities against the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. The draft law proposes to establish a procedure for the dissolution of any religious organisation with ties to the Russian Federation. These proposed restrictions on the right to freedom of religion do not seem to be in line with international human rights law.
Former US assistant secretary of state under President Donald Trump, Robert Destro, has said that the Ukrainian law that suggests banning the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church is a “mockery of human rights”. At the same time, Destro emphasised that the US government was complicit in “this bullying, although it should condemn it”.
