Elena Bogdan: One cannot position UOC as an enemy of Ukraine

Elena Bogdan. Photo: duh-i-litera.com

The head of the State Service for Ethnopolitics and Freedom of Conscience, Olena Bogdan, said in an interview with Glavkom that an attempt to call all believers of the UOC “enemies of Ukraine” is contrary to the reality.

“It is very wrong to position all people affiliated with the UOC as enemies of Ukraine – this is absolutely not true. To marginalize a certain part of the population on this ground is a path to an artificial conflict,” Bogdan said.

According to her, it is important to understand that the Church is not only the clergy, but also millions of believers who are citizens of Ukraine.

Commenting on the law on the obligatory renaming of the Church, the official said that whatever decision would cause a great public outcry.

“In general, the situation is not as black and white as it is often portrayed. The claim for a name is a troublesome norm from the point of view of international law, because Ukraine has a number of international legal obligations. Are political parties demanded to note likewise in all of their newsletters that ‘Our members have business ties with the Russian Federation’? I do not intend to oversimplify anything with this sarcastic remark. We all understand our realities,” Bogdan said.

As reported by the UOJ, Nazariy Kishak, the adviser to the mayor of Ivano-Frankivsk called to “purge the monasteries” of the UOC and “expel the Muscovites from our land”.

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