Russian Foreign Ministry: Politicians should not interfere in religious affairs

Estonian authorities are exerting direct legislative pressure on the Estonian Orthodox Church, seeking to force it to sever ties with the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC). This was stated by Mikhail Melekh, the Russian Foreign Minister’s Special Representative for International Cooperation on the Right to Freedom of Religion, as reported by TASS.

He noted that this involves “direct legislative pressure aimed at compelling the Estonian Orthodox Church to break ties with the Moscow Patriarchate.” Similar political pressure is being exerted on Moscow Patriarchate structures in Moldova as well, Melekh observed.

” In effect, politicians are interfering in canon law. This means political pressure is being applied to the intra-religious sphere. From our perspective, this is a clear violation of the human right to freedom of religion,” he explained to Russian journalists in Geneva.

Melekh added that certain problems also exist in Armenia. According to him, with regard to all such conflicts, Moscow maintains the position that politicians should not interfere in the religious sphere. “The problem certainly should not be resolved through legislative restrictions on the activities of religious denominations,” he clarified.