Yelensky in Bucharest asks Romanian Church to recognize OCU

On October 21-23, 2024, the head of the State Service of Ukraine for Ethnic Policy and Freedom of Conscience, Viktor Yelensky, visited Romania. During the visit, Yelensky visited the Romanian government and the Romanian Patriarchate, where he held a series of meetings on establishing relations between the Romanian Orthodox Church and the OCU. The meetings were also attended by: Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Ukraine to Romania Ihor Prokopchuk, Deputy Head of the Office of the Ukrainian World Community and Humanitarian Initiatives — Head of the Humanitarian Initiatives Division of the Department of Public Diplomacy and Communications of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Bohdan Movchan and First Secretary of the Embassy of Ukraine in Romania Borys Patrash. This is reported by the website of the State Service.

“During the meeting with the State Secretary of the Romanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs for Strategic Affairs, Ana Cristina Tinca, the issues of protecting the rights of persons belonging to the Romanian national minority (community) in Ukraine and the Ukrainian national minority (community) in Romania were discussed. Victor Yelensky thanked for the great assistance provided by Romania to Ukraine and emphasized that in the humanitarian sphere there are significant opportunities to improve, deepen and strengthen cooperation between the two countries, namely, in the humanitarian sphere between scientific, cultural, public and religious organizations of both countries. The parties showed a full understanding of the importance of developing dialogue in all these areas, including church-state partnership. On the same day, at the Patriarchate, Victor Yelenskyy held a nearly three-hour meeting with the Secretary of the Holy Synod of the Romanian Orthodox Church, Bishop Varlaam Ploestiunu, and his advisors, to discuss all the most difficult issues arising on religious grounds in both countries. Viktor Yelensky emphasized the need to intensify the dialogue between the Orthodox churches of both countries, which will contribute not only to strengthening the spiritual and moral foundations of Ukrainian and Romanian societies, but also to the resilience of our countries in the face of Russian aggression,” — the State Service said in a statement.

Earlier, Oleksandr Sagan, a lobbyist for the OCU, head of the Department of Religious Studies at the Institute of Philosophy of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, called on the Ukrainian special services to respond to the creation of the Romanian Patriarchate of the Romanian Orthodox Church of Ukraine. The religious scholar is convinced that through such maneuvers Romania plans to seize Ukrainian territories.