Expert: Distancing of power from the Church should not be misleading

President of Ukraine Vladimir Zelensky. Photo: open sources

The marker of the church policy of the Ukrainian power will be the issue of transferring the stauropegia to Constantinople, political analyst Ruslan Bortnik said in a comment to "Strana.ua".

“I believe that it is too early to interpret the results of Zelensky’s visit to Phanar as that Zelensky almost gave Bartholomew a flick on the nose,” the political expert noted. “We see from Zelensky a demonstrative distancing from church issues. But let it not mislead anyone – it can be of ambiguous nature."

According to the expert, “the transfer of stauropegia to Constantinople will become a real marker of the actions of the authorities on church issues – whether they will they be transferred or not. The marker will be the fate of St. Andrew’s Church, whether the new Cabinet of Ministers will give it to Bartholomew or play is over.”

At the same time, the political scientist believes, Vladimir Zelensky also made it clear that the OCU is safe with him.

“That is he will not personally develop this process, but he will also not interfere with its development,” Ruslan Bortnik resumed.

We recall that on November 3, 2018, in Istanbul, Poroshenko and Patriarch Bartholomew signed an agreement the contents of which the Presidential Administration of Ukraine refused to disclose for a long time. Later it became known that in exchange for the Tomos Poroshenko promised some “properties” to the Phanar.

As reported, on August 7-8, 2019, President Vladimir Zelensky paid a working visit to Turkey, where he met with Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople. During the meeting, the President emphasized that the authorities should not interfere in church affairs. In addition, the Ukrainian side refused to sign a joint statement prepared in advance by the Phanar in cooperation with the Foreign Ministry.

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