The Verkhovna Rada has banned the activities of the FSB in cassocks. What’s next?

The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine has supported the government’s draft law “On the Protection of the Constitutional Order in the Field of Religious Organizations” (8371).

The struggle for its adoption lasted a year and a half, and the parliament eventually supported the legislative initiative. 265 MPs voted in favor.

The President expressed his support before the vote, and Volodymyr Zelenskyy will most likely sign the law symbolically on Independence Day.

The hard work will then begin. Civil society and the media play a significant role here. They also have the opportunity to appeal to the State Service for Ethnic Policy and Freedom of Conscience to block the propaganda work of Moscow priests.

How will the new law work?

Mykyta Poturaiev

Chairman of the Committee on Humanitarian and Information Policy (Servant of the People)

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The law explicitly banned the Russian Orthodox Church. Now, the task is to clear religious organizations in Ukraine of Russian influence. The State Service for Ethnic Policy and Freedom of Conscience and the Cabinet of Ministers, after the president signs the law, must approve a regulatory framework that will begin the procedure for checking religious organizations for ties to the ROC.

What is the algorithm of actions?

Mykola Kniazhytskyi

Member of Parliament (EU), member of the relevant committee

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Appeals can come from state or local authorities, public organizations, or the media. The Civil Service itself can also initiate consideration. After that, a study is conducted, and a religious expert may be appointed. Suppose the evidence collected as a result of such an examination confirms the existence of ties with a religious organization whose activities are prohibited by law. In that case, the State Service issues an order. The order specifies the identified ties and gives a deadline for their elimination. If the prescription is fulfilled, it is withdrawn, which means the state has no claims against such an organization. If not, the State Service will go to court.

It is worth noting that the State Service for Ethnic Policy and Freedom of Conscience can directly apply to the court if any leader of a religious community has already been convicted in a case involving crimes against national security.

What is the position of the State Service?

Viktor Yelenskyy

Head of the State Service for Ethnic Policy and Freedom of Conscience

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We will study the bill adopted by the MPs thoroughly and implement it as quickly as possible.

Last year, Speaker Ruslan Stefanchuk said there were no votes in the parliament to consider the government’s draft law. Then, on Independence Day, MPs Yulia Klymenko (Holos) and Oleksandr Aliksiichuk (Servant of the People) initiated a signature collection in parliament, and eventually, the legislative initiative passed the first reading.

In the spring of 2024, the relevant committee reviewed the draft law and prepared it for the second reading. However, the text of the legislative initiative appeared on the Verkhovna Rada’s website only after an appeal to the Parliament’s Secretariat from the Holka civic initiative and the Committee on Humanitarian and Information Policy.

In July, MPs from several factions blocked the rostrum demanding consideration of the draft law. After the president appealed in support of the draft law, the relevant committee made final amendments and MPs eventually supported it.

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