European Parliament member: UOC subjected to persecution by authorities

Member of the European Parliament Petar Volgin. Photo: Volgin's Facebook

On September 22, 2025, Bulgarian MEP Petar Volgin defended the UOC at a meeting of the European Commission "Democratic Shield" in Brussels. The politician spoke about the persecution that the state subjects the laity and hierarchs of the UOC to.

In his Facebook post, Volgin noted that "the Euro-Atlanticists in Brussels have a new favorite enemy – Orthodoxy."

"One smart guy said that Orthodox Christians are more primitive than Catholics and therefore more susceptible to Kremlin propaganda," writes the MEP. Another participant called to "expel all Orthodox priests from Western Europe, as they are Putin's spies."

French politician Nathalie Loiseau "almost cried because there are as many as two Orthodox churches in Paris," while "she did not mention anything about mosques in the same Paris," noted the Bulgarian deputy.

In response to the anti-Orthodox rhetoric, Volgin informed his colleagues about the real situation with the UOC – the largest Christian denomination in Ukraine. Despite the fact that immediately after the start of the war, the UOC severed ties with the Moscow Patriarchate and condemned the military actions, the Kyiv authorities have been persecuting the Church for three and a half years.

The Bulgarian politician provided specific examples of violence in Cherkasy, Zaporizhzhia, and Bancheny.

The MEP reminded that a year ago, a special law was adopted in Ukraine, creating legal grounds for banning the UOC. Churches are being taken in favor of the pro-government church structure of the OCU.

Volgin emphasized the contradiction between the declared European values and the actual actions. Article 10 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union guarantees the right of people to practice their religion, yet the actions of the Kyiv authorities regarding freedom of religion raise serious concerns.

"I don't know if you understood me...," concluded the Bulgarian politician, expressing doubts about the readiness of his European colleagues to objectively assess the situation with religious freedoms in Ukraine.

Earlier, the UOJ wrote that the European Parliament member drew the EU's attention to the persecution of UOC priests.

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