Estonian ministry seeking to prohibit church relations with hostile associations

  • 2025-01-23
  • BNS/TBT Staff

TALLINN - The Estonian Ministry of the Interior has submitted a bill seeking to amend the Churches and Congregations Act for the purpose of preventing the exploitation of religious organizations to incite hatred or violence against another nationality, religion, or cultural or value space.

The bill aims to clarify the existing regulation, based on the bottlenecks that have emerged in previous practice, the diversification of religious associations, as well as the risks to security that accompany the radicalization or political instrumentalization of religion.

Minister of the Interior Lauri Läänemets said that the bill specifies the conditions that concern both the administrative management of religious associations and, for example, any economic dependence on religious organizations that are affiliated with or cooperate with the governments of countries hostile to Estonia.

"With the bill, we want to protect religious freedom in Estonia and, among other things, prevent our religious organizations from being exploited to incite hatred or violence. As a state, we respect religious freedom, and the state continues to have no intention of flippantly interfering in the activities of churches and congregations, but in the changed security environment, we must ensure the possibilities to limit the spread of extremist ideologies through religious associations both today and in the future," Läänemets said. 

The amendment does not change the principle that a court makes the final decision regarding the forced closure of a religious community. The bill does not automatically lead to the closure of any church or, for example, the prohibition of the Russian Orthodox Church in Estonia. However, the amendment clarifies the expectations of the state and society for religious organizations operating in Estonia, which must always operate in accordance with Estonian laws.

According to the amendment, a church, monastery, or other religious community operating in Estonia may not be led in its activities, through its articles of association or other founding documents, or be economically connected to a governing body, spiritual center, spiritual leader, or organization located in a foreign country that poses a threat to Estonia's national security, public order, or constitutional order. Such a connection cannot involve a person or institution advocating war, terrorist crimes, violence, or supporting military aggression.

The amendment also specifies who can serve as a religious leader in Estonia. 

"In legal terms, we cannot consider as a religious leader someone who, for one reason or another, is not allowed to live or reside in Estonia. It is not logical for a religious community operating in Estonia and its followers to be led or served by a person whom we do not allow to reside here, for example, due to security considerations. Unfortunately, this is illustrated by the situation where the Estonian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate has not elected a new church leader in a year, after Metropolitan Eugene lost his residence permit and thereby the right to act as a clergyman. Metropolitan Eugene's residence permit was not extended for security reasons, and according to Estonian law, the church should have chosen a new head, a new metropolitan. However, even now, a church operating in Estonia is being directly managed from Moscow," Läänemets said.

The Minister of the Interior stated that the amendments aim to ensure that people can freely practice their religion and that churches and congregations can operate freely without hostile directives or obligations to act in the interests of hostile regimes. 

President of the Estonian Council of Churches Urmas Viilma said that the council's board understands that the government has the responsibility to mitigate and prevent security risks to Estonia's national independence and people and to make the necessary legal amendments. 

"We were pleased to note that the ministry has taken into account the amendments proposed by the Council of Churches in the fall and has addressed the main concerns," Viilma added.

The bill is expected to be submitted to the Riigikogu at the end of January.

The law is slated to come into force in the first half of 2025. Churches and congregations needing to align their statutes and operational principles with the law are given a transition period of two months.