Escalation of the Conflict Around the Estonian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate: Information War Heats Up

20.09.2024

While the Estonian Orthodox Church and the Ministry of Internal Affairs publicly debate the church’s connection to the Moscow Patriarchate, Russian propaganda has been portraying this dispute for several weeks as an attempt to liquidate the Estonian Orthodox Church, whose congregation, according to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, numbers around 170,000. But the main question is, do the Orthodox believers themselves actually believe this? (Note: Propastop reserves the right to indicate the affiliation of the Estonian Orthodox Church with the Moscow Patriarchate until the issue of its canonical status is fully clarified.)

On Tuesday, September 17, the press service of the Estonian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate) issued a statement that effectively responded to the request, or rather the demand, of the Ministry of Internal Affairs to clarify its position on the recent controversial remarks made by Patriarch Kirill. At the end of August, Patriarch Kirill declared that the Russian Orthodox Church is ‘the only institution that today unites Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, and other countries of the so-called post-Soviet space.’

Instead of clarifying its position, in its brief press release, the Synod of the Estonian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate once again succinctly stated that ‘the Estonian Orthodox Church does not participate in political processes, and its opinion regarding the Patriarch’s statements has already been expressed in the Synod’s statement from April 2, 2024.’ They also added that a more detailed response will be sent to the Ministry of Internal Affairs soon.

This brief message could have gone unnoticed, were it not for the broader context in which it was issued.

On September 12, a congratulatory message from Metropolitan Eugene appeared on the Estonian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate) website in honor of Alexander Nevsky‘s feast day. Among other things, it included the following passage: ‘In this difficult time for the Estonian Orthodox Church, I urge everyone to remain steadfast in spirit, intensify prayers, and maintain loyalty to canonical Orthodoxy‘ (emphasis added by the editors). A copy of the letter began circulating in popular Russian-speaking groups on Facebook.

“It is worth noting that in a canonical sense, the Estonian Orthodox Church (EOC) remains connected to the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC), even though, according to the decision of the Council on August 20, references to the Moscow Patriarchate were removed from the church’s statutes. Radio Liberty provided a detailed account in early May of the complicated history of relations between the two local Orthodox churches and the nuances of the canonical connection between the EOC and the Moscow Patriarchate.

Judging by social media posts, some local Orthodox believers perceive the dispute between the EOC and the Ministry of Internal Affairs as an attempt to persecute Orthodoxy. Almost every publication on this topic is met with outraged comments, though the number of such comments is significantly lower than those on topics related to the war in Ukraine.”

“MARINA TUURI COMMENT: What business is it of yours that our church belongs to the Moscow Patriarchate /…/ Leave it alone.
Screenshot: Facebook.”

It’s important to note that the topic of Orthodoxy in Estonia has been emotionally charged since the 1990s, when disputes arose between the Estonian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate and the Estonian Apostolic Orthodox Church, not only over canonical succession but also over property. This makes any statements on the matter all the more sensitive, and communication from the government needs to be clear, precise, and calm. However, this has proven to be a significant challenge. Here’s what the search result for ‘church’ looks like on the rus.err.ee website:

“Meanwhile, in recent months, Russian propaganda has been closely monitoring the news stream from Estonia and, around the second half of August, began intensifying its informational pressure on the country.

Amid reports being reprinted about the Estonian Orthodox Church and the Pühtitsa Convent suing to be excluded from the list of supporters of Russian aggression in Ukraine, Russian propaganda has doubled down on promoting the narrative of ‘persecution of Orthodoxy in Estonia.’ In several articles, it is even claimed that Orthodox priests in Estonia have allegedly been summoned for questioning. However, no evidence of this has been found. The article in ‘Vzglyad’ references Ria.ru on this matter, but the latter’s text provides no substantiation for these claims.”

“It is telling that the description of the canonical debate between the Estonian Apostolic Orthodox Church (EAOC) and the Estonian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate (EOC MP) in the ‘Izvestia’ article is blatant plagiarism: the information was taken from two articles published in August on the Estonian National Broadcasting website—’Metropolitan Stefan: EOC MP Cannot Be Called the Estonian Orthodox Church‘ and ‘Igor Prekup: History Does Not Tolerate Inaccuracies.’ The text is largely copied without modification but without citing the source. Nevertheless, the conclusion is clear. The article explicitly states that the Estonian government is allegedly ‘constantly seeking new reasons to justify the possible forced liquidation of the EOC.’ Interestingly, Igor Prekup’s last name, unlike other figures, is slightly altered in ‘Izvestia’—he is referred to as ‘Perekup’ in the article.”

To support his thesis, the author of the ‘Izvestia’ article briefly summarized the news feed on the debate between the Estonian Orthodox Church and the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Estonia and also interviewed Maksim Reva, a somewhat forgotten activist of the ‘Night Watch,’ who was associated with the events of the Bronze Night. In the article, he is presented as a political analyst. His concluding phrase is particularly noteworthy: ‘The Church remains the last bastion of “Russianness” that the authorities have not yet managed to crush—and people are determined to defend this bastion.’ Interestingly, this article was quoted by several other popular Russian publications, including Lenta.Ru and ‘Moskovsky Komsomolets.’ Both outlets claimed in their headlines that the Estonian authorities are allegedly ‘threatening to forcibly close the Estonian Orthodox Church.'”

The exact same message can be found in several posts in local Russian-speaking groups on the social network Facebook.

However, it is noteworthy that, so far, online commentators have refrained from calling for mass protests. Nevertheless, this calm could indicate underlying discontent, which could potentially be used as a tool for destabilizing the situation in the country in the future.