Group of MPs demands eviction of UOC monks from St. Nicholas Monastery in Volyn

MP and OCU lobbyist Igor Guz, together with 12 colleagues in parliament, sent a collective appeal to the state leadership and law enforcement agencies demanding the expropriation of the premises of the St. Nicholas Monastery of the Volodymyr-Volyn Diocese of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church in the village of Miltsi, Volyn region. The deputy believes that the reason for such actions is the expiration of the lease of the premises by the UOC monks, who continue to stay in the monastery despite legal pressure.

According to the publication «BUG», the lease agreement for the buildings of the St. Nicholas Monastery of the UOC allegedly expired at the beginning of the year, but over the past five months, the responsible authorities have not ensured the expropriation of the property for state administration. In this regard, the parliamentarians appealed to the Prime Minister of Ukraine, the Head of the Security Service of Ukraine, the Minister of Internal Affairs, the Prosecutor General and the Minister of Culture to take the situation under their personal control.

Ihor Huz emphasized that the situation looks «extremely strange» since no real decisions have been made to evict the monks from the monastery over the past five months. «Together with my fellow MPs, I demand that the Moscow church be evicted from the monastery in Miltsi and that the responsible officials be punished for their inaction,» the MP said. He also emphasized the responsibility of local officials who, in his opinion, failed to ensure the eviction of the UOC monks within the established time frame.

The parliamentarian added that attempts to «sit out» or «wait it out» will not succeed, because the monastery «must be returned to state ownership without fail.»

Earlier, we reported that the brethren and parishioners of St. Nicholas Monastery in the village of Miltsi, Volyn region , appealed to U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance and Congresswoman Anna Pauline Luna to protect their religious rights from the threat of eviction. The monastery, which has a history of about 700 years, is at risk of being evicted after the lease expires.