“So as not to show solidarity with Russia”: Expert explains why the EU will not defend the Ukrainian Orthodox Church

Dmytro Vovk, a lawyer, professor at Benjamin N. Cardoso School of Law in New York, and expert on religious issues, believes that the international community will not focus on violations of the rights of believers of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. He is convinced that against the backdrop of other problems and challenges facing Ukraine, the issue of banning the UOC will be removed from the political spotlight. He spoke about this in a comment to DW.

“The basic logic on the part of international partners will be that this is not Ukraine’s biggest problem and, against the backdrop of many other significantly more complex challenges, this law can be ignored,” – the expert said.

In addition, he believes that Ukraine’s European partners will not focus on the issue of banning the UOC because this issue is being actively promoted on the world stage by representatives of Russia. In his opinion, even the very fact of solidarity with Russia on any issue will be unacceptable for Western diplomatic institutions.

Recall that Volodymyr Zelensky called the information about the ban on the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, which was spread by American journalist Tucker Carlson, “manipulative.” The head of state asserts that no one in Ukraine is restricted in their right to practice any religion or attend churches of different denominations. At the same time, the politician is convinced that during the war with Russia, there can be no religious organizations in Ukraine associated with the Russian Orthodox Church.