The Lithuanian government plans to restrict the activities of the Lithuanian Orthodox Church under the pretext of fighting Russian influence

Lithuanian Foreign Minister Kęstutis Budrys has stated the need to limit the activities of Russian special services in the Lithuanian Orthodox Church. This statement was made after the publication of a national threat assessment by the Lithuanian special services, which states that the Orthodox Archdiocese of Vilnius remains dependent on the Moscow Patriarchate, despite public statements about the desire for greater autonomy. This is reported by the LRT edition.

Budris emphasized that the authorities should prevent the activities of Russian special services in this organization, comparing the situation to an inspection of a company seeking to invest in a strategic sector. «We must prevent the activities of Russian special services in this organization. If it were a company seeking to invest in the strategic sector, we would check whether it meets the interests of national security. Because of its ties to Russian services and direct influence, it would not be allowed to own assets near our strategic facilities,» the Lithuanian minister said.

In turn, the President’s National Security Advisor, Davidas Matulionis, warned against calling the entire Orthodox Church in Lithuania a threat to national security. He emphasized that the attention of the security services should focus on specific individuals who may be involved in recruitment or other forms of sabotage or destabilization, and not on the entire religious community.

«If we are talking about sabotage or destabilization, then the object of attention of our special services should not be the Orthodox Church itself, but those who may be involved in recruitment or other activities,» he emphasized.

Earlier, the head of the Diocese of Vilnius and Lithuania of the Russian Orthodox Church (LOC MP), Metropolitan Innocent of Vilnius and Lithuania , declared his fundamental disagreement with the content of the final document adopted at the XXV Congress of the World Russian People’s Council, which called the war in Ukraine «sacred» and added that after its end Ukraine should «enter the zone of Russia’s exclusive influence.»