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31 May 2022, 18:21Borrell's remarks on Russian patriarch give Kiev 'sanction' to persecute canonical Church – Moscow Patriarchate
Moscow, May 31, Interfax - The European Union has effectively signaled to Ukraine that the country is free to repress its canonical church, the Russian Orthodox Church said, commenting on remarks made by EU diplomacy chief Josep Borrell earlier on Tuesday.
Borrell had said that the Russian Church leader, Patriarch Kirill, could be among those targeted by the sixth package of anti-Russian sanctions.
Commenting on Borrell's remarks, spokesman for the Russian Orthodox Church Vladimir Legoyda said that, " the sanctions have turned from being a means to achieve some, if dubious, political results, into a self-goal, a way of proving that this process will continue despite all logic and common sense" and that "the sanctions-hysteria has turned into an obsession."
In his view, sanctioning the Russian patriarch is a "totally useless initiative, a means of satisfying the expectations of those who hate the Russian Orthodox religion, and the Russian culture as a whole."
It is unsurprising that Borrell's intentions were "fully synchronized" with a decision of Ukraine's parliament which on Tuesday voted for the imposition of sanctions on Patriarch Kirill, the spokesman said.
"In the conditions of hostilities in Ukraine, such sanctions send a signal to nationalistic circles that Ukrainian believers, who wish to maintain the canonical link with the Moscow Patriarchate, can be persecuted, chased away, disenfranchised and physically exterminated with impunity. Europe's 'sanction' for that has been received," Legoyda stated on his Telegram channel.
In early May, the European Commission proposed imposing restrictive measures on Patriarch Kirill as part of a new package of anti-Russian sanctions. |
