Russian Foreign Ministry: Moldovan authorities may start persecution of the church

Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova has said that church institutions could become the next target of political persecution by the Moldovan authorities. According to her, this is an obvious item on the agenda of the Moldovan leadership, and it is already possible to start a «countdown» to the beginning of these events.

According to Rambler/news with reference to TASS, the diplomat made this statement on the air of Sputnik radio station. «You can time the countdown. You can already, unfortunately, start the countdown [to the beginning of the persecution of the church in Moldova]. There is not even another opinion here,» Zakharova noted.

She also added that despite the fact that «faith in Moldovans is strong,» the attack on the church is a foregone conclusion. «We should take all this into account and proceed from the fact that, unfortunately, indeed the next point of attack will already be church institutions,» the Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman concluded.

It should be noted that the hierarch of the Orthodox Church of Moldova, Archbishop Markell of Balti and Falesti, addressed the 60th session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, where he stated that the rights of the PCM believers were violated by the authorities of the country. In his address, he mentioned political pressure, restriction of freedom of movement and attempts to seize church property, calling on the international community to pay attention to the situation.