OSCE: seizures of churches in Ukraine resemble Iraq and Pakistan

Representatives of the OSCE monitoring mission, having familiarized themselves with the facts of seizures of churches in the Ternopil region, said that of 52 countries of the world only in Pakistan and Iraq, the OSCE SMM staff encountered cases of seizures of religious buildings similar to those in Ukraine, reports the Information and Educational Department of the UOC.

The meeting of representatives of the Ternopil diocese with the members of the special monitoring mission of the Ivano-Frankivsk branch of the OSCE was held on March 28.

During the meeting, the parties discussed the facts of human rights violations in the Ternopil region in connection with the recent seizures of churches of the diocese and the delay in the registration of the statutes of religious communities.
Representatives of the UOC expressed concern over the practice of depriving existing religious communities of all rights by re-registering their statute in the Kyiv Patriarchate.

The Mission staff drew attention to this problem and noted that of 52 countries of the world such cases have occurred only in Pakistan and Iraq.

During the conversation, the parties expressed an opinion on the need for organizing bilateral negotiations with representatives of the UOC-KP for the settlement of conflict situations in the Ternopil region.