The Estonian Church thanked the country's president for upholding the Constitution

The Estonian Orthodox Christian Church commented on the decision of Estonian President Alar Karis to veto the country’s Parliament’s amendments to the law “On Churches and Parishes.” The EOC thanked the head of state for his prudence and expressed hope that the country’s parliament would abandon its attempts to ban the Church. This was reported by ERR.EE.

«This repeated decision by the head of state once again confirms that the law adopted by the Riigikogu contradicts the Constitution, and that the entire process of its adoption was political rather than legal in nature. At the same time, the legislator did not properly analyze the grounds for these changes, their necessity, and their validity,» — the EOCC noted.

The Church expressed hope that the Estonian Parliament would abandon its attempts to ban the EOCC, as it is absolutely clear that this directly contradicts the country’s Constitution.

«We express our hope that the Riigikogu will now abandon these constitutionally controversial amendments and further attempts to discuss them, since these amendments to the Law on Churches and Parishes objectively do not comply with the Constitution, as we have repeatedly stated and as the president has said for the second time. Our church is an autonomous religious association operating in Estonia: we live on this land, abide by the laws of this country, respect and honor its values, one of the most important of which is freedom of religion,» — the EOCC emphasized.

Earlier, we reported that Estonian President Alar Karis had again vetoed amendments to the state law “On Churches and Parishes,” through which the Parliament of the Republic planned to ban the activities of the Estonian Orthodox Christian Church. The head of state noted that the law, despite having been repeatedly revised in parliament, still contradicts certain articles of the Estonian Constitution.