Russia criticizes Latvia's actions regarding Orthodox Church

By Elena Teslova

MOSCOW (AA) - Russia on Wednesday criticized Latvia's draft law regarding the country's Orthodox Church aimed at severing ties with the Moscow Patriarchate.

A Foreign Ministry official said in a statement that Latvia's authorities want to forcibly divide the local Orthodox commune from "mother Orthodox Church."

"On Sept.5 this year, President of Latvia Egils Levits has submitted to the Saeima (Latvia's parliament) a draft amendment to the law on the Latvian Orthodox Church, the essence of which is the forced alienation of the Orthodox community and the church itself from the "mother Church" – the Russian Orthodox Church," Russia's special envoy for religious affairs Gennady Askaldovich said.

The diplomat said Latvian statesmen are unfamiliar with the Constitution, the 99th article of which prescribes the fundamental principle of interaction between church and state: "Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religious belief. The Church is separated from the state."

"It is possible that the mentioned draft law is just another populist step on the eve of the upcoming parliamentary elections, scheduled for October this year.

"It is not surprising that in order to get more seats in the Saeima, some politicians use Russophobia. It is not the first time that nationalist forces in Latvia have played this card," Askaldovich said.

By separating the Latvian Orthodox Church from the Russian one, the authorities try to annihilate everything Russian, to cut spiritual connections between Russians, living in Latvia and in Russia, he said.

"A dangerous precedent is being created for outright state pressure not only on the Russian Orthodox Church, but also on other religious communities.

"We categorically reject such a policy. For Latvia, this will not pass without consequences," he warned.​​​​​​​