SEFC: The Romanian politician's words about repressions against UOC are fiction
The SEFC stated that the "burned Romanian churches", "icons destroyed by the SBU" exist only in the inflamed imagination of Mr. Visan.
The State Service for Ethnopolitics and Freedom of Conscience called the words of the Romanian ex-deputy Gelu Visan, who criticizes the repressive policy of Ukraine against the canonical Church, untamed fiction and slander. This is reported by the official website of the service.
The SEFC noted that Visan's statements coincide with the propaganda clichés of the Russian Federation, which it tried to highlight at the RF-initiated meeting of the UN Security Council on January 17, 2023, regarding the alleged "oppression of the only canonical Orthodox Church in Ukraine."
“The SEFC responsibly declares that ‘burned Romanian churches’, ‘Romanian priests who are not allowed to preach in Romanian’, ‘icons destroyed by the SBU’, etc., exist only in Mr. Visan’s inflamed imagination. Ukraine has been and remains committed to the fundamental principles of freedom of conscience. Cathedrals, churches and prayer houses have never been closed in the country and believers have not been persecuted. A politician cannot be unaware of this. Nor can he be unaware of the fact that spotters of enemy fire, collaborators who handed over Ukrainian activists to the invaders and supported murderers and marauders, invited the ‘Russian world’ to Ukraine, should suffer a well-deserved punishment, regardless of the presence or absence of their spiritual dignity,” the statement says.
The SEFC expressed regret and bewilderment at the statements voiced by Gelu Visan, as well as the confidence that they will not be able to spoil either the solidarity of representatives of different ethnic groups and religious denominations in Ukraine, or relations between Ukraine and Romania.
As reported by the UOJ, on the air of the Romanian television, the Romanian politician Gelu Visan obscenely insulted the President of Ukraine because of his policy towards the UOC.