The Head of the State Energy Security Service Discussed with the Bulgarian Ambassador to Ukraine Support for the Establishment of a "Church Mission"

During the meeting, Viktor Yelensky, Chairman of the State Service of Ukraine for Ethnopolitics and Freedom of Conscience (GESS), held talks with Zlatin Krastev, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Bulgaria to Ukraine. The parties discussed key aspects of bilateral cooperation, paying particular attention to issues related to support for the Bulgarian national community in Ukraine.

According to the GESS website, the status of the Bulgarian national minority was discussed in detail during the dialogue. The participants focused on meeting the cultural, linguistic, and educational needs of Bulgarians living in areas of concentrated settlement within Ukraine.

Viktor Yelensky informed the ambassador about the mechanisms of state financial support provided to public organizations of national communities. In particular, it was noted that this year, four projects initiated by associations of the Bulgarian community received state funding. In addition, the parties discussed issues related to creating the necessary conditions for the full-fledged operation of churches and religious organizations.

Following the meeting, representatives of both countries expressed interest in further developing their partnership and outlined specific areas for future cooperation.

As a reminder, the Primate of the Polish Autocephalous Orthodox Church had previously sent a complaint to Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople regarding the OCU’s encroachment on the canonical territory of the PAOC. The protest concerns the OCU’s establishment of so-called “chaplaincy missions” in Poland, under the guise of which Ukrainian schismatics are opening full-fledged parishes.