Estonia’s performance in fulfilling her international obligations concerning the rights of believers is discussed at a OSCE meeting in Warsaw

ESTONIA’S PERFORMANCE IN FULFILLING HER INTERNATIONAL OBLIGATIONS CONCERNING THE RIGHTS OF BELIEVERS IS DISCUSSED AT A OSCE MEETING IN WARSAW

The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe is holding from September 17 to 27, 2001, in Warsaw, its 6th meeting to review how its member states carry out their human dimension commitments.

On September 25, the meeting considered the implementation of human rights to the freedom of religion. Archpriest Nikolay Balashov, DECR secretary for inter-Orthodox relations and the Russian Orthodox Church institutions abroad, drew the attention of the participants to the continued violations of the rights of the members of the Estonian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate. For eight years now they have sought without success to register their religious organization with the state. Thought some of the ungrounded demands of the Estonian authorities concerning the name of the Church have been long withdrawn, the Estonian Government continues to insist on the removal of those articles of the Statute which point to the canonical continuity between the Estonian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate (EOC MP) and the historical Orthodoxy in Estonia. The text of the Statute proposed by the Estonian Interior Ministry excludes any reference to the most important ecclesiastical legal documents, such as the 1920 Resolution of Patriarch Tikhon and the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church and the 1993 Tome of His Holiness Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow and All Russia as the foundation for the canonical existence of the Church seeking registration. The registration is thus made conditional upon the refusal of those Orthodox believers in Estonia who would like to belong to the Moscow Patriarchate to stay faithful to their own history. In fact it is suggested that they should recognize themselves as a newly-formed organization, which never existed in Estonia before. The registration granted on these conditions remains unacceptable for the Orthodox religious awareness, which cherishes its tradition and continuity with its forefathers. Besides, the governmental version of the Statute has deleted the reference to the self-governed and autonomous nature of the EOC MP given by the above-mentions documents of the Supreme Church Authority of the Moscow Patriarchate. No specific legal provision can justify all these demands. Moreover, they represent a violation of a number of international standards including Articles 16.3 and 16.4 of the Final Document of the 1989 CSCE Vienna Review Meeting and Articles 32 and 33 of the 1990 CSCE Copenhagen Meeting on Human Dimension.

Recently some positive changes have begun to show in the dialogue between the Estonian Government and the Moscow Patriarchate. However, any further progress needs to be followed closely and supported by international organizations including the OSCE Mission in Tallinn. This problem will be finished only if the EOC MP is registered at last and the Estonian authorities recognize the rights of her faithful, including their property rights.

The problem concerning the status of the Orthodox faithful under the jurisdiction of the Moscow Patriarchate in Estonia was also raised by Rev. Igor Prekup of the EOC MP and A. Gusev of the Russian Ministry for Foreign Affairs.