Expert: OCU wants to change laws in its favor with the help of USA?

Ruslan Bortnik. Photo: persona.top

Political expert, Director of the "Ukrainian Institute of Politics" Ruslan Bortnik, explained in a commentary for the UOJ, why the OCU is discussing the problem of "transitions" of religious communities with the US Secretary of State.

He noted that the meeting of US Secretary of State Antony Blinken with only one of the religious leaders of Ukraine, the head of the OCU Epiphany, is certainly a sign of great political support from the United States of this particular religious organization.

“This is a demonstration of what the United States considers partners, friends. But this demonstration does not quite fit into the principles of freedom of conscience and non-discrimination of various religious confessions, which are professed within the United States in the first line,” stated Ruslan Bortnik.

The discussion at this meeting of issues related to the "transition" of religious communities from one denomination to another "suggests that, most likely, the leader of the OCU complained to Biden about the ineffectiveness of the current Ukrainian legislation" in this part, the expert added.

So, in his opinion, the leadership of the OCU could seek support from the United States “in putting pressure on the Ukrainian government in terms of adopting new legislation that would simplify the re-registration of communities in terms of simplifying the actions of the bodies of the Ministry of Justice and, possibly, of considering the appeal by the Constitutional Court of Ukraine regarding the law on the constitutionality or unconstitutionality of the transfer of communities.”

“Let's see how the Ukrainian authorities will respond to these signals, but, of course, the fact that the meeting took place only with one of the religious leaders would mean pressure on other confessions that are potentially competing with the OCU,” the expert summed up.

Earlier, the UOJ wrote that, according to political analyst Konstantin Bondarenko, the discussion of the problem of “transitions” of communities with the US Secretary of State is a signal from the leadership of the OCU to the Ukrainian authorities.

Recall that following the meeting between Epiphany and US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, which took place in Kyiv on May 6, the OCU reported that “special attention during this short but meaningful meeting was devoted to the issue of the formation of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine, the importance of removing artificial obstacles in the free determination by communities of their religious affiliation, based on the principles of freedom of conscience.”

Read also