At first of August, the consultant of the Russian Orthodox Church within the Czech Republic, Fr. Nikolay Lishchenyuk was declared persona non grata by the authorities. He has to go away the nation inside a month. He’s accused that “with the help of the Russian authorities, he created a construction of affect and threatens the security of the nation.” The case was reported by the Czech publication denikn.cz and RIA Novosti.
Fifty-one-year-old priest Nikolay Lishchenyuk got here to the Czech Republic round 2000. Based on his official biography, he served within the church of the Russian Embassy in Prague, and later in Karlovy Fluctuate, within the church of St. Peter and Paul”. In 2009, he was appointed as consultant of the Moscow Patriarch in Prague, which was opened shortly earlier than that – in 2007.
In August 2023, the Ministry of International Affairs of the Czech Republic terminated his residence allow. He contested and his case reached the Constitutional Courtroom, however misplaced. Father Nikolay was within the attain of the Czech particular providers due to “undesirable exercise”. The paperwork within the case state that, with the help of the state authorities of the Russian Federation, he organized “an affect construction that aimed to help separatist tendencies within the nations of the European Union.” Subsequently, in response to the authorities within the Czech Republic, a “affordable assumption of a risk to the safety of the nation” has arisen.
Data appeared within the Czech media in regards to the cleric’s connections with Russian businessmen throughout the renovation of the Karlovy Fluctuate church, in addition to about “shadow revenue” of the ROC from an organization for renting lodging and non-residential premises within the Czech Republic. Already in June of this 12 months, the Constitutional Courtroom of the Czech Republic issued a ultimate opinion, and a month later a unprecedented assembly of the Czech Senate was held relating to the actions of the buildings of the Russian Orthodox Church within the nation.
Based on the chairman of the parliamentary committee on international coverage, Pavel Fischer, “it will be a mistake to permit authorized entities which are related to a rustic hostile to us to function in our nation.” Furthermore, the yard is subordinate to the patr. Kiril, who has been on the Czech Republic’s sanctions checklist since April 2023, Fischer stated throughout a press convention on the expulsion of the Russian priest.
Czech media recall that this isn’t the primary such case. In September 2023, the consultant of the Russian church in Sofia archimandrite Vasian (Zmeev) was deported from Bulgaria together with two monks (one was not truly a cleric). They have been summoned to the immigration workplace to be informed that they have been declared persona non grata and will go away the nation inside 24 hours.
In February of this 12 months, the residence allow of the top of the Estonian Orthodox Church of Tallinn Metropolitan Yevgeny (Reshetnikov) was not prolonged due to his place on the conflict in Ukraine. Then the Estonian authorities introduced that the ROC, which helps Russia’s aggression, is harmful for the nation.
