EU lawmaker on Cabinet’s anti-UOC bill: we filed one long ago

Mykola Knyazhytsky, an MP of the European Solidarity Party, commenting on the Cabinet of Ministers' bill on banning the UOC, reminded that such a proposal was made long ago.

Knyazhytsky said that "the law banning the Russian Church, its branches in Ukraine and the execution of the Tomos has long been submitted to the Verkhovna Rada and was even supported by a VR committee unanimously."

"No discussion on this matter has been initiated by officials, and no suggestions have been made. From my point of view, there is only one reason: there are not only government representatives among the authors of Law 8221, but also representatives of the opposition. And the aim of the authorities is to destroy the opposition in order to build autocracy after their victory. If only for this reason only, we will support the government's project. What matters to us is the result for the future," the EU MP wrote.

At the same time, he noted that it seems to him that "the authorities are simply afraid of strengthening the OCU," and "the government project will be half-hearted and, in the end, will preserve Russian influence in Orthodoxy. That is why there is no dialogue with the authors of the parliamentary draft".

"We will study the government draft carefully when the text appears. For there is nothing in the title about banning the Russian Orthodox Church or the UOC MP. Its title is: "Draft Law on Amendments to Some Laws of Ukraine on the Activity of Religious Organizations in Ukraine". We will see the text after it is made public," concluded the MP from Poroshenko's party.

According to Knyazhytsky, the UOC should be banned first and expert examinations should be conducted later.