Ban on UOC threatens Ukraine's accession to the European Union - lawyer

The former Ukrainian parliamentary ombudsman for human rights (2012-2018), Honored Lawyer of Ukraine Valeriya Lutkovska has shared her opinion on what threatens the state if the draft law No 8371 aimed at banning the Ukrainian Orthodox Church is passed. The former ombudsman believes that if the law is passed, it will complicate the process of Ukraine’s accession to the European Union. About this she told in an interview with the publication “Comments”.

“As for joining the European Union, which is an unconditional request of the Ukrainian society, it is no secret that one of the requirements for Ukraine’s accession to this organization is the creation of a system of human rights protection. I have the impression after familiarizing myself with the discussed draft law that this draft will not at all contribute to the fulfillment of this requirement. Accordingly, the adoption of this draft law will rather become a problem for Ukraine’s accession to the European Union, which does not exactly meet the expectations of the Ukrainian people,” – Lutkovska said.

We shall remind you that earlier we published the opinion of a former member of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, Ihor Mosiychuk, who claims that voting for the bill No 8371 aimed at banning the Ukrainian Orthodox Church will have an extremely negative impact on Ukraine’s relations with its Western partners from the USA and the European Union. The former MP is convinced that the adoption of such a law will definitely be regarded in the West as a violation of the right to freedom of conscience and will lead to serious political consequences.