On April 4, the Committee on Humanitarian and Information Policy finalized the government bill “On Amendments to Certain Laws of Ukraine Regarding the Activities of Religious Organizations in Ukraine” (8371) for the second reading.
This initiative will allow blocking the activities of those organizations that are subordinate to the aggressor state or spread hostile propaganda.
This was reported by the public initiative “Holka,” informed by the Chairman of the Committee of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine on Humanitarian and Information Policy Mykita Poturaiev (“Servant of the People”)
Of course, not the entire ruling party faction will support this initiative, as there are lobbyists of the Moscow Patriarchate. In particular, according to “Golka” from its own sources in the pro-government faction, Yevheniy Bragar referred to the bill as “discriminatory” and one that would cause “outrage in the world community.” However, as the “Servants” claim, Vice-Speaker Oleksandr Kornienko believes that the bill should not be sent to the Venice Commission because only laws that may affect the common legal field with the EU need to be coordinated with the EU.
It is worth noting that at the end of last year, at the initiative of MP Artem Kultenka (“Servant of the People”), who supports the Moscow Patriarchate, Deputy Head of the Pro-Government Faction Andriy Motovilovets appealed to Speaker Ruslan Stefanchuk demanding that the government bill be sent to the Venice Commission. However, Motovilovets later withdrew his signature, stating that he wanted to remain neutral.
Given this situation within the “Servant of the People” faction and the results of the first reading vote (267 votes in favor of the government bill), other factions and groups need to be involved to support this initiative.
MP Mykola Knyazhytskyi (“European Solidarity”), who is a member of the relevant committee and the author of the bill “On Ensuring the Strengthening of National Security in the Field of Freedom of Conscience and the Activities of Religious Organizations” (8221), previously noted that the government bill already incorporates a number of provisions and his initiatives, and now says that the faction is ready to support the government’s initiative.
The “Voice” faction is also ready to support urgently and vote “for.” Deputy faction leader Yulia Klymenko emphasizes this, who, together with Oleksandr Alyexiychuk (“Servant of the People”), collected signatures under an appeal to Stefanchuk to bring this issue to the Verkhovna Rada for consideration in the first reading:
The leader of the “Dovira” group, Oleg Kulinich, emphasizes that the bill will have support from his allies in the second reading.
A source within the “Servant of the People” faction has reported that there is currently a moderate wing of priests within the UOC (MP) discussing the idea of creating a new church:
“They may create a separate church not associated with canonical ties to Kirill and the ROC. They do not want to be associated with those who are truly traitors to Ukraine within the UOC (MP) and those who, hiding behind their robes, declare existential war on the Ukrainian people. Therefore, such processes are entirely real.”
As for the “For the Future” group, the chairman of this group, Taras Batenko, also assured that his deputies would vote “for.” The press service of “Batkivshchyna” also states that they supported the bill in the first reading and will continue to support it in the second.
In the near future, the agenda for the session of the Verkhovna Rada will be agreed upon at a coordination meeting, and here the key role is played by the head of the Servant of the People faction, David Arakhamia. It depends on him whether this issue will be considered when there is the maximum number of deputies in the session hall. In the first reading, he supported the bill and voted “for.”
As for the Security Service of Ukraine, it is noted that as of March, over 80 criminal proceedings have been opened concerning these “clergy,” with 37 suspicions announced and 23 court decisions already made. Over 200 ROC clerics have been banned from entering Ukraine. Sanctions have been imposed on 17 UOC (MP) officials, 23 ROC leaders, including Patriarch Kirill (Mikhail Gundyaev), and Metropolitan Tikhon of Pskov.
Specially for “Glavkom”
