Estonia: State tells Orthodox church to sever all ties with Moscow

Estonia’s Ministry of Interior has instructed the Estonian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate (MPEÕK) to sever all ties with the Russian Orthodox Church (RPTs), ERR reports. In a letter to MPEÕK’s Bishop Daniel (Daniel Lepisk), the ministry’s secretary general, Tarmo Miilits, noted that MPEÕK’s updated statute failed to meet the requirement. Earlier, the Estonian parliament, the Riigikogu, declared RPTs an institution supporting Russia’s military aggression. MPEÕK has asked the Tallinn Administrative Court to remove MPEÕK from the list of entities supporting military aggression, ERR reports. Also, MPEÕK wants to change its name to the Estonian Orthodox Church (EÕK) and unite with the Estonian Apostolic Orthodox Church (EAÕK), which is subordinate to the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople. EAÕK said that it was ready to assist MPEÕK in breaking away from RPTs, ERR reported. However, Interior Minister Lauri Läänemets said that the state was unlikely to accept MPEÕK’s request to change its name to EÕK, ERR reported.