Estonia’s Supreme Court to review president’s complaint over law on churches

President of Estonia Alar Karis. Photo: SIPA/Scanpix

Estonian President Alar Karis will challenge the anti-church law in the Constitutional Court, Religion Pravda reports.

The hearing is scheduled for February 3, 2026, in Tartu. The session has invited the Minister of Justice, representatives of parliament, the government, the Orthodox Church, the Pühtitsa Stavropegial Convent, and the Estonian Council of Churches.

It should be recalled that on April 10, 2025, the Estonian parliament adopted a law obliging religious organizations to amend their charters if they depend on foreign religious centers recognized as a potential threat to national security. Government representatives do not conceal that this law is directed primarily against the Estonian Orthodox Christian Church, which maintains canonical unity with the Russian Orthodox Church.

On October 3, 2025, President Alar Karis submitted an appeal to the Supreme Court requesting that the amendments to the Law on Churches and Religious Associations adopted by parliament be declared unconstitutional.

Earlier, the UOJ reported that the United Nations had expressed concern over pressure on the Estonian Orthodox Church.

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