Metropolitan Hilarion said the Russian Orthodox Church is being harassed in the Czech Republic amid the threat of sanctions

Metropolitan Hilarion (Alfeyev) has spoken out about the constant harassment faced by the Russian Orthodox Church’s suburb in the Czech Republic. According to him, the pressure has intensified amid reports in the Czech press about the readiness of the country’s outgoing government to impose personal sanctions against him. The clergyman attributes this to a targeted media campaign that began when he was transferred to the ministry in Karlovy Vary.

According to Deník N, the outgoing government of Petr Fiala is preparing to impose sanctions against the Metropolitan. This initiative, according to media reports, was also supported by Andrej Babiš, the leader of the ANO opposition movement, which won the parliamentary elections. Hilarion himself noted that «the outgoing government will act for another two or three weeks» and, judging by the publications, is in a hurry to make a decision. At the same time, there has been no official confirmation or denial of this information from the Czech government.

In a commentary for RBC, the Metropolitan spoke about specific facts of pressure. He recalled that earlier the rector of the Russian Orthodox Church’s podvorye Archpriest Nikolai Lischenyuk was deprived of his residence permit. In addition, the Czech press accused the church in Karlovy Vary of being «used by Russian agents for secret meetings.» «Attempts were made to take the church away from the Russian Church, but this failed due to the fact that the church was transferred to the ownership of the Hungarian diocese,» the Metropolitan said.

The bishop emphasized that the press campaign against him personally has not stopped for ten months. According to him, a photo with Russian President Vladimir Putin, taken in 2022 at the presentation of the Order of Alexander Nevsky, is used as the «main kompromat». «After this publication, I receive by e-mail messages like this: Táhni z Česka ty ruská špíno! (Get out of the Czech Republic, Russian bastard!),» he told.

Recall, earlier we reported that the Czech government is considering imposing sanctions on the hierarch of the Russian Orthodox Church, Metropolitan Hilarion (Alfeyev), who currently resides in Karlovy Vary. The reason for this is the information about his alleged links with the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB)