"Prove that it is not with Moscow": the MP told how it is necessary to ban the UOC

Ukrainian MP of the Eurosolidarity party Mykola Knyazhytskyy has spoken about how the activities of parishes of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church should be banned. The MP believes that the UOC congregations should prove in court that they have no ties with the aggressor country. About this he told in a commentary to the edition «Glavcom».

«We propose that the organizations, which have in their charters written that they are part of the UOC MP, to give time to break all relations with Moscow within 30 days, and further, if they do not break, then to stop their activities and take away their property. They then have the right to appeal this in court. As for independent churches, which are actually part of the Russian Church, but it is not written in their charter, we also proposed to simplify the mechanism a bit. The State Service, after an expert examination, gives a prescription, and if they do not fulfill it, they are sued. If the court proves their affiliation with the Russian Church, they are banned. And openly affiliated by statute are banned at once and then they themselves file a lawsuit», — said Knyazhytsky.

In addition, the Deputy considers as excuses reports that the European Parliament is concerned about the pressure of the Ukrainian authorities on the UOC, because of which the deputies do not want to vote for the law on the ban of the Church.

«No critical word from the Europeans about it at all anywhere, ever. And the current bill is presented in an absolutely toothless form, in which it would not work at all, and even call international criticism on us. Here it is just screening and would not pass», — emphasized the MP.

It is worth noting that earlier we have repeatedly reported on the negative reaction of Western institutions to the persecution of the Ukrainian authorities against the UOC. For example, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk expressed his concern about the pressure of the Ukrainian authorities on the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. Turk said that the law banning the Ukrainian Orthodox Church was not in line with human rights.