Bezuhla: Delegation of MPs going to US to "settle the issue" with Bill 8371

Blocking the tribune in the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine. July 23, 2024. Photo: Shevchenko's Telegram channel

MP Maryana Bezuhla stated that a Ukrainian delegation of deputies will soon travel to the USA to provide "additional explanations" and negotiate the adoption of Bill 8371 by Parliament, which effectively bans the UOC, the deputy wrote on Facebook.

"There are thousands of denominations in the USA, from common to the most exotic and openly threatening, and this topic resonates well, especially among Republicans. We have signals that sanctions and similar measures will be imposed on MPs who voted for the bill. Currently, every hryvnia primarily contains partners' money, and a large share of it comes from the USA, so taking a tough stance during their tumultuous election times is dangerous not only for the concept of bipartisan support but for any support altogether," Bezuhla said.

She also noted that the Vatican has also noted problems with the bill. Bezuhla reported that this is "a factor of Russian influence and not the first such case in the Vatican, but it is also a consequence of their traditions."

As the UOJ reported, Vyacheslav Horshkov, head of the Department of Cooperation with Religious Communities of the State Service of Ukraine for Ethnopolitics and Freedom of Conscience, believes that on a declarative level, the bill to ban the UOC "may look good," but he does not understand how it is going to be implemented.

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