Estonia is about to pass an anti-church law to ban the EOC

The Estonian Ministry of Internal Affairs will submit a bill to the Estonian parliament, according to which the Estonian Orthodox Church will be given two months to completely break relations with the Moscow Patriarchate. The law will oblige the Church to change all the clauses that say that the decisions of this church have been approved by the Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church and its Patriarch. Otherwise, the Interior Ministry of the Republic threatens to liquidate the Estonian Orthodox Church. ERR.EE reports that.

“This endeavor is necessary because the Orthodox Church subordinate to the Moscow Patriarchate is for Russia and the Kremlin the most important instrument of their influence in Estonia. This must come to an end. We have seen how Moscow has used religious organizations to achieve its goals in Moldova, Ukraine and other countries, and I can say that there is not the slightest doubt that this has been done and will continue to be done in Estonia,” — said Interior Minister Lauri Läänemets.

The Ministry of the Interior explained what requirements to the EOC will be set forth in the new law. According to Läänemets, if the Church does not make concessions, the state will be able to ban it as one that approves of Russia’s international policy. The Estonian Orthodox Church will be given two months to make the necessary changes.

“From the statutes should be removed mention of the tomos, once given by the Russian patriarch to the local church, it is necessary to change all the paragraphs that speak about the approval of the decisions of this church by the Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church and its Patriarch. This also applies to the Pyukhtitsa Monastery and Alexander Nevsky Cathedral, which have their own charters. They too must change their charters. We will not make exceptions in matters of security. If the Parliament adopts this law, we will not enter into any new negotiations,” — said Läänemets.

Recall, earlier it became known that the Estonian government refused the Estonian Orthodox Church in the registration of the new name, which was adopted at the recent Council of the EOC, held on August 20, 2024. At that time, the EOC removed from its name the mention of belonging to the Moscow Patriarchate, following the agreements reached with the Estonian government. Nevertheless, the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic considers such steps of the Estonian Church to separate from the Russian Orthodox Church insufficient, and refused to register the new name.