MEP Terras: Jana Toom working against Estonia's interests

TALLINN - Jana Toom's assistance in finding lawyers for the Estonian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate (EOC-MP) to litigate with the Estonian state is yet another example of Toom's decisions that work against the interests of Estonia, says Riho Terras, member of the European Parliament from the Isamaa party.

"For the EOC-MP, Patriarch Kirill continues to be the head of the church and the supreme religious leader, whose actions in supporting the Russian military aggression in Ukraine have not been clearly condemned by the higher clergy here. It is simply not appropriate for any congregation active in Estonia to maintain either canonical or alleged bloodline ties with the church that is calling the massacre in Ukraine a holy war, led by a puppet of the  Kremlin," Terras said.

He said that as a member of the European Parliament, Toom has repeatedly participated in initiatives that criticize Estonia. Her latest major scandal was about covering legal costs for individuals whom Estonia has decided to expel on security grounds.

Terras said that Jana Toom's actions follow a clear pattern.

"Toom considering the local church that is subordinate to Moscow as the last thing left for Russian people in Estonia is evidently absurd," the MEP said, stressing that unlike Russians living in Russia, ethnic Russians living in Estonia have the opportunity to live in a state governed by the rule of law, where there is freedom of thought and expression.

"These are values that Jana Toom has used against the Estonian state also earlier," Terras said.