The head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Estonia Urmas Reinsalu stated that his country will propose to include Patriarch Kirill of the Russian Orthodox Church in the list of sanctions of the European Union.
This is reported by ERR.
According to the minister, this initiative was caused by the statements of the Russian patriarch praising Russiaʼs genocidal war in Ukraine.
Earlier, the head of the RPC Kirill said that in the war against Ukraine, Russian soldiers are fulfilling their vocation and duty to their homeland and society, so their actions can be compared to self-sacrifice. According to Kirill, the Russian occupiers who died in Ukraine will be forgiven for all their sins.
In a sermon after the liturgy at the Cathedral of Christ the Savior on September 27, the Russian patriarch spoke about the importance of "spiritual mobilization," which, he said, should help "complete reconciliation of Russia and Ukraine." At the same time, "reconciliation", according to Kirill, should not follow the path of "dangerous compromises".
- On August 30, the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine approved proposals for the application of personal sanctions for 10 years against the head of the Russian Orthodox Church Patriarch Kirill and seven more of its representatives.
- Canada and Great Britain also introduced sanctions against Patriarch Kirill.
- But the European Union, in the sixth package of sanctions against the Russian Federation, waived restrictions on the head of the RPC Kirill in order to "pacify" Budapest. Earlier, Hungary demanded to exclude the patriarch from the sanctions package, otherwise the country would block the vote.