The highest position of the Orthodox Church, close to Putin, disappears from the sixth package of sanctions for the war in Ukraine
Hungary won another victory in negotiations with the rest of the European Union (EU) member states on Thursday. At an ambassadorial-level meeting, the country urged to remove Patriarch Kirill, head of the Russian Orthodox Church, from the sixth package of sanctions in exchange for unblocking Moscow’s oil veto, a decision requiring the unanimous vote of the twenty-seven .
The sixth round of penalties against Russia had been blocked by Budapest since early May. After reaching an agreement of the Twenty-seven at the European summit this week, the country threatened this Thursday to withdraw its formal endorsement if Europe included the Russian religious leader on its “blacklist”. Finally, the EU gave in and will not freeze the assets of the highest representative of the Orthodox Church. It will also not prevent you from entering community area.
The patriarch is close to Russian President Vladimir Putin and is known in some circles as the “ecclesiastical oligarch” because he has a fortune between $4,000 and $8,000 million. In addition, it has been the subject of controversy for refusing to expressly condemn Russia against Ukraine and to this day states that Russia has “never attacked anyone in its history” and that it is limited to “protecting its borders”.
In practice, Europe has once again yielded to the demands of the government of Viktor Orbán, which has recently maintained a rebellious attitude towards Brussels. It blocked the approval of Next Generation funds during the pandemic and has only accepted the embargo on Russian oil by sea.
This measure affects 66% of crude oil imports to the EU and excludes the pipelines supplying Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic. This exception, although “temporary”, will allow these countries to build the necessary infrastructure to stop being dependent on Russia.
Source: La Verdad
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