Russian sway over Orthodox takes a blow

Russia’s presence in the presidency of the Inter-Parliamentary Assembly on Orthodoxy (IOA), an international institution with an active role in promoting the values of the Orthodox Christian tradition in contemporary European and world affairs, came to an end on Saturday in Sithonia, Halkidiki northern Greece, with the election of a Polish MP, Yevgeny Chikvin, widening the chasm with the Russia on the religious level even more.

The post of president had been occupied by a Russian for 30 years without interruption.

More specifically, the representatives of the 19 Orthodox parliaments from all over the world expelled Russian President Sergei Gavrilov, who did not attend the meeting, as he is subject to Western sanctions because of the invasion of Ukraine.

It was preceded by a letter to IOA members and the Greek government by the Ukrainian Parliament, through which Kyiv called for the participation in the assembly of “persons subject to European Union sanctions” to be prevented, while urging the “expulsion of the current president and representative of the state sponsor of terrorism.” It informed of “the inability of the Ukrainian people’s deputies to participate in the 30th General Assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Assembly.”

The Russian side perceived the IOA’s decision as an attack by Kyiv on Orthodoxy, with Gavrilov himself in statements in Moscow claiming that the decision to remove him was “the product of hidden pressure” from Ukraine with “active support.”

Russia’s presence in this international forum of Orthodox parliaments was also weakened because of the interference of the Russian Church, depending on Moscow’s geopolitical aspirations in regions around the world with Orthodox Christian populations (Africa, the Middle East, the Balkans etc), its attempt to undermine the Ecumenical Patriarchate, the conflict over the independence of the Church of Ukraine and not least its blessing of the invasion of Ukraine.