Bondarenko: Government will not ban UOC now but will continue repressions

Kostiantyn Bondarenko. Photo: Bondarenko's Facebook

Political expert and historian Kostiantyn Bondarenko predicts that the anti-church bill 8371 will not be passed. He wrote about this on his Telegram channel.

Bondarenko notes that the bill is being lobbied by Petro Poroshenko's party "European Solidarity", which means that banning the Church will not add to Zelensky's ratings.

Moreover, the President's team has faced unequivocal signals from the U.S. and Europe.

"Firstly, 'partners' from across the ocean have made it clear that the issue of banning the Church is 'not timely'. Democrats are simply advising to delay, and in the event of Trump's return to power, whose entourage has already criticized Zelensky's confessional policy, there is a clear message worded by the famous lawyer Bob Amsterdam: each person who voted for the ban on the UOC will potentially be subject to U.S. sanctions," wrote the political analyst.

European countries pointed out the inconsistency of bill 8371 with the European Convention on Human Rights (Article 9), a document that European politicians adhere to.

Bondarenko also notes that Zelensky's support from Patriarch Bartholomew has raised questions among Turkish politicians. "Arriving at the Peace Summit in Switzerland, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew already caused a scandal: Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan directly asked his Ukrainian colleague on what grounds a church figure (and a state official of the Turkish Republic, who is prohibited from engaging in international affairs and politics) attended this event? Fidan's tone (de facto the second person in the Turkish political hierarchy) left no doubt: Ankara will not tolerate Fanar playing politics, undermining the government and the president," he stated.

According to the political analyst, to completely ban the UOC would mean "completely losing support in the East and South of Ukraine (in the front-line regions) and losing authority among a significant part of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, who do not compromise their conscience and are very sensitive to church issues."

However, Bondarenko believes that all these factors do not mean the end of repressions against the UOC with the participation of law enforcement agencies. The political analyst believes that the seizures of churches and the persecution of the clergy and laity of the UOC will continue.

As the UOJ reported, the Rada is short of 20 signatures to bring bill 8371 to a vote.

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