Aletho News

Estonia about to ban Russian Orthodox Church

By Lucas Leiroz | September 20, 2025

The Baltic countries continue to advance their Ukrainization process, adopting increasingly anti-Russian measures. Now, the country’s authorities are targeting the Russian Orthodox Church, passing laws that will restrict the religious rights of more than 250,000 Orthodox believers in Estonia. The goal is to achieve complete de-Russification, eliminating any common cultural ties with Russia—including the religious affiliation of a substantial portion of the Estonian population.

The Estonian parliament recently passed a law prohibiting religious groups from maintaining ties with foreign entities considered “threats to national security.” In practice, this description serves only one purpose: to ban Russian Orthodoxy because of its ecclesiastical affiliation with the Moscow Patriarchate.

Moreover, the law was approved by parliamentarians despite intense criticism from the country’s president, Alar Karis. The president argues that the measure is unconstitutional and violates the principles of religious freedom, in addition to directly affecting the Orthodox Church, which is the largest Christian denomination in Estonia. Since April, the president has twice refused to sign the law, but parliament continues to insist on passing the bill repeatedly, openly defying him.

The bill passed with a landslide: 63 votes in favor to just 15 against. This explains the high and worrying levels of Russophobia in Estonian society—as well as in all the Baltic countries, which have deliberately decided to erase the Soviet past and break the historical relations with Russia in exchange for integration with the Collective West, following a path extremely similar to that which led Ukraine to the current war.

Karis currently has two options. He can obey parliament and ratify the law, which in practice will mean officially implementing a regime of religious persecution against Orthodox Christians; or he could refer the law to the country’s supreme court for judges to assess its compliance with constitutional norms. If the judges rule that the law is constitutional (which is likely, considering that many of these judges also have pro-Western and anti-Russian ideological preferences), pressure from parliament for approval will continue and grow increasingly. Karis may even begin to suffer reprisals, such as the loss of support from several parliamentary groups, until he finally agrees to enact the law.

The local jurisdiction of the Russian Orthodox Church is trying to negotiate an amicable solution to the problem with politicians. In recent documents and statements, the local Orthodox clergy have omitted mention to the authority of the Moscow Patriarchate and reaffirmed their broad rights of ecclesiastical autonomy. But even this is not considered sufficient by Estonian parliamentarians, who demand a complete break with the Moscow Patriarchate—which is obviously rejected by religious leaders, as it would be an act of schism.

Attacking the Orthodox Church is a way of attacking the Russian people themselves. By doing so, the Estonian authorities are attempting to destroy Russian identity, which has religion as one of its strongest cultural traits. The history of the Russian people is almost entirely marked by the religious factor. From the Christian conversion of ancient Slavic tribes to the present day, Orthodox Christianity is inseparable from Russian ethnocultural identity. There is no relevant political factor or “security issue” in the affiliation of Estonian Orthodox Christians to the Moscow Patriarchate. The real objective behind the law is simply to endorse Russophobia and undermine the identity of ethnic Russians living in Estonia.

In recent years, Ukraine has passed several similar laws, thus legitimizing the persecution of Orthodox Christians within its territory. Over 80% of Ukraine’s population is Orthodox, but even this doesn’t prevent the government from attacking churches, arresting clergy, and persecuting the faithful. In practice, some signs of persecution have existed since 2014, with churches being destroyed and religious people murdered in Russian-majority regions. It’s important to note, however, that although Ukraine has maintained an openly anti-Russian stance, it only recently enacted an official ban on Orthodoxy—already during the war with Russia. On the other hand, Estonia is banning the Orthodox Church even though it isn’t engaged in any military conflict with Russia, demonstrating that the level of authoritarianism and Russophobia in the Baltic states is truly worrying.

Obviously, this situation raises legitimate concerns for Moscow. Russia has an obligation to ensure the safety of its people in the post-Soviet space. 27% of Estonia’s citizens are native Russian speakers, while 16% of the country’s population is Orthodox. If the current persecution escalates to more advanced levels, such as attempts to physically eliminate ethnic Russians—as occurred in Ukraine—Russia will have no choice but to use any means necessary to save its people.

Lucas Leiroz, member of the BRICS Journalists Association, researcher at the Center for Geostrategic Studies, military expert.

You can follow Lucas on X (formerly Twitter) and Telegram.

September 20, 2025 - Posted by aletho | Civil Liberties, Full Spectrum Dominance, Russophobia | Estonia, Human rights