Anti-Orthodox laws will swing the country 50 years back, – Expert

"The provisions of the draft laws make the normal existence of the largest Orthodox confession – the UOC – virtually impossible. In addition, the draft laws violate the right to freedom of religion guaranteed by the Constitution and the principle of separation of religion from the state.

It would seem the desire of the authorities to take control of the largest religious confession – the UOC – whose parishioners are about 32% of Ukrainian citizens (according to the Rating group, 2016), has nothing to do with the cherished dream of Ukrainians to save for a trip to Europe and go without visas restrictions. However, the visa liberalization regime adopted by the EU in relation to Ukraine may be suspended unilaterally if the state of Ukraine violates the terms of the agreement.

Relevant statements have been repeatedly made by the EU. On February 27, 2017, the EU Council adopted a regulation on the revision of the suspension mechanism, which can be applied to all existing agreements on visa liberalization. "Visa liberalization offers many benefits to the EU and third countries, but at the same time the EU should be able to respond effectively to cases where the rules are not being implemented," said Carmelo Abela, head of the Interior Ministry presiding in the EU Council of Malta.

In addition to the failure to comply with the conditions of the visa liberalization regime, the adoption of such bills simply swings back the country at least by 50 years to the socialist camp. Let me give you some basic differences between the rule-of-law states and a classical model of the socialist state we are now moving to.

Religious freedom is one of the basic human rights. The draft laws are registered and planned to be included in the agenda of the session of the Parliament despite the negative conclusions of the scientific and expert management. The state of Ukraine has never trampled that flagrantly either its Constitution or basic international documents on human rights, beginning with the UN Charter," the expert writes in her blog.

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