DESS concerned about compliance of UOC ban law with Commission regulations

Viktor Yelensky at the meeting of the DESS Public Council. Photo: DESS Facebook page

On January 29, 2025, the Public Council of the State Service for Ethnopolitics and Freedom of Conscience (DESS) held a meeting to discuss the compliance of Law 3894-IX "On the Protection of the Constitutional Order in the Activities of Religious Organizations" – commonly referred to as the UOC ban law – with the requirements of the European Commission. DESS reported this on Facebook.

The head of DESS, Viktor Yelensky, emphasized that active efforts are underway to meet the requirements and recommendations of the European Commission in the process of screening Ukrainian legislation.

This work specifically involves issues of freedom of conscience.

Yelensky informed council members that the service is paying special attention to the implementation of the Law on the Protection of the Constitutional Order in the Activities of Religious Organizations, the consolidation of the religious environment for the country's defense, and the protection of freedom of conscience in wartime conditions. He described these as "a complex and multidimensional challenge".

"In all these matters, we rely on the support and expert analysis of the Public Council. Your knowledge and experience are extremely important for the effective fulfillment of the assigned tasks," Yelensky stressed.

Notably, the DESS Public Council includes two clerics from the OCU and a priest from the Roman Catholic Church in Ukraine. The head of the council is Eskender Bariyev, chairman of the board of the Crimean Tatar Resource Center.

As a reminder, Yelensky previously assured the UN that there is no persecution of the UOC, arguing that its churches in Kyiv remain open.

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