Reshetnikov: Whoever heads the civil service, he must respect Constitution
The functions of the State Service for Ethnic Policy and Freedom of Conscience are determined not by the Minister’s words, but by the Regulations of the service itself.
Whoever heads the State Service for Ethnic Policy and Freedom of Conscience, he must act in accordance with the Constitution, emphasized one of the candidates for the post of head of the civil service, religious scholar, former chairman of the State Committee for Religions Yuri Reshetnikov.
“The functions of the service are determined not by what the minister says, but by what is written in its Regulations. There is no such norm as to help one Church and not help another one,” the “1Kozak” channel cites Reshetnikov.
The religious scholar also commented on the hype that the supporters of Andrei Yurash artificially created around the competition for the post of head of the civil service. He said that on the day the candidates for this post were interviewed, two other similar interviews were conducted at the Ministry of Culture, however, they passed without special attention from the media.
“Appointment to the post is only one life stage. And then we still have to live in one country. And such politicization over the past years, not only of the religious but also of the scientific environment, is not good <...>. The attitude against each other harms science and normal life in our country,” Reshetnikov said.
Answering the journalist’s question of whether such an active pushing of the candidacy of Yurash will affect the appointment of the head of the civil service, the religious scholar noted that the fruits of this candidate’s activities did not go unnoticed by the public.
“The activities of Andrei Vasilievich <...> led to a significant religious confrontation, and, therefore, to a threat to social stability <...>. We must understand that such an appointment will entail the continuation of relevant activities, which will be in direct conflict with what the President of Ukraine is talking about,” Reshetnikov said.
Earlier, the director of the Information and Analytical Centre “Perspective” Pavel Rudiakov commented on the ongoing seizures of churches of the UOC and said that the new Ministry of Culture continues to use the administrative resource in favor of the OCU.
It is noteworthy that Andrei Yurash, who failed the first competition for the post of head of the State Service for Ethnic Policy and Freedom of Conscience, began to disseminate letters in support of his candidature, which students of the OCU Academy were made to sign. Later, the spokesman for this church structure, Eustratiy Zoria, also joined the campaign for Yurash.
The public began collecting signatures against Yuras as head of the State Service for Religion.
