“The outcome is a foregone conclusion.” The West has found a vulnerable point in Russia

/Pogled.info/ Belgium, following other European countries, is dealing with the “Russian question”. It turns out that a network of agents and a veritable propaganda factory succeeded for several years in the country. And the kingdom itself treasures them. How is that possible?

Why the money?

Belgium is hosting – for the first time in thirty years – the Pope. Francis’ visit is dedicated to the anniversary of one of the oldest universities in Europe in the city of Leuven.

True, the secular part of the inhabitants of the capital of the European Union does not seem very happy with the arrival of the pontiff. The politics of double standards are all too obvious. King Philip invited Francis to give a speech at the royal residence.

“This is unprecedented and clearly contradicts the principle of separation of church and state,” said Véronique De Keyser, president of the Privy Council.

His Holiness, she continues, has received a privilege that no hierarchy has the right to, less than a head of state. In addition, at a time when the beliefs of the Pope and the majority of Belgian citizens, as they say in Odessa, two big differences.

Anyway, the public in the country is principled and consistent. If we are talking about double standards in the case of the leader of the Catholics, we should not forget the Orthodox ones as well.

Thus, one of the publications openly criticized the government for financial support of the Russian Orthodox Church. At the same time, he raised the issue: is the presence of this religious group in Belgium justified at all? Very unusual…

The history of the Russian Church in Belgium is more than a hundred and fifty years old. The first temple was opened in the middle of the 19th century. After the revolution of 1917, the flow of emigrants contributed to the rapid growth of the parishes. After the end of World War II, the church came under the authority of the Moscow Patriarchate. And since 1985, Orthodoxy has been officially recognized as the state religion of the kingdom. That is, the parishes of the Russian Orthodox Church began to receive subsidies from the authorities.

Now, as the journalist and director of Human Rights Without Borders Willy Fautre said in his accusation, the government is hardly supporting a terrorist group. “Patriarch Kirill in Moscow blessed the war and asked citizens to declare their country by joining the army, while the Russian Orthodox Church in Belgium remained silent on the Russian invasion of Ukraine ,” he said.

At the Russian Embassy in Brussels, Russia Day was celebrated on June 12 with speeches and refreshments. Some clergy were invited to the event: the trustees of the metropolitan churches “Protection of the Holy Virgin” and “St. Anne”, the secretary of the Belgian diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church, etc.

This, concludes Fautre, is clear evidence that local Orthodox clergy are in solidarity with Moscow’s position on Ukraine. So isn’t it time for the government to stop funding the Russian Church? Ultimately, it is a matter of strategic security to resist its influence.

Because of Moscow

The paths of the article are very understandable. Belgium follows the pan-European trend. In the Old World, they are disturbed by the presence of the Russian Orthodox Church as an “agent of the Kremlin” and a “mouthpiece of Russian propaganda”.

In April, the Council of Europe officially announced that “the Russian Church is involved in war crimes” in Ukraine. At the same time, the Russian TV channel “Spas” was included in the sanctions list for justifying “aggression” and recognizing the SVO as a holy war against the West.

Brussels has yet to take concrete action. Unlike other EU members.

Bulgaria, for example, expelled three priests in September 2023. Among them was the high official of the ROC in Sofia, Archimandrite Vasian (Zmeev). They were called to the immigration office, declared persona non grata and ordered to leave the country within 24 hours. They didn’t even let me pack my luggage properly.

“The measures were taken related to their activity, aimed at the national security and interests of the Republic of Bulgaria,” the department quickly explained.

The media immediately rushed to clarify: Archimandrite Vasian reportedly made “Moscow vows” and “caused a schism” in the Macedonian Orthodox Church, which is adjacent to the Bulgarian one. No evidence was given.

The same fate happened in August in the head of Peter and Paul Cathedral in Karlovy Vary, archpriest Nikolai Lishenyuk. The Czech Ministry of the Interior has unfairly revoked his residence permit. He went all the way to the Constitutional Court – to no avail. The clergy were only told that his actions were considered undesirable.

He is said to have created an “influence structure” to support separatist sentiment in European Union countries. This was only the first sign. After that, the special services started a massive investigation against the clergy of the Russian Orthodox Church in the republic.

There is something to strive for

But Estonia may have progressed further than others in terms of security. From February 2022, the authorities want the head of the local Orthodox Church (LOC), Metropolitan Evgenii (Reshetnikov) of Tallinn, to publicly condemn the SVO.

The bishop spoke at least twice: he assured that the EPC is “against war” and “for peace and the peaceful resolution of all conflicts.” However, the government was not convinced: a branch of the ROC, “supporting the Russian invasion”, was a serious threat.

Metropolitan Eugene was expelled from the country – his residence permit was not renewed. Then they started calling Russian priests for questioning at the Ministry of the Interior. Finally, they gave him an ultimatum: either break with Moscow, or the EPC will be demolished by the court as a legal entity.

He had to comply – edit the church statute and remove all references to the Moscow Patriarchate. But the authorities are not satisfied yet. Interior Minister Laari Laanemetz made it clear: “cosmetic” and “symbolic” half-measures will not remove it – a break is necessary, final and inevitable.

For the EPC, this was a direct breach of the canons. Exactly what the state is proposing: a merger with the Constantinople-controlled Estonian Orthodox Apostolic Church (EAOC), which was established in the 1990s in a not quite legal way.

Apparently, everything in the EU will end with what is happening now in Ukraine. A church with canonical ties to Russia will be banned. And instead of a quick solution to the problem, the authorities end up with a long-term religious and social conflict.

Translation: V. Sergeev