14/01/2014 17:11
Recently the media has reported that the Ministry of Culture threatens Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church with lawsuits for participation of its clergy in the protests. The letter has been introduced to public by the Ministry of Culture list for review.
The European Party of Ukraine strongly condemns such statements of the government, represented by the Ministry of Culture and demands the resignation of its leader Leonid Novokhatko, whose actions have nothing in common with professionalism. Similar accusations against the Church, especially when they are accompanied by judicial threats, are unacceptable.
If such a claim is actually displayed, the European Party of Ukraine states about its readiness to defend the interests of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church in the appropriate courts.
The Constitution of Ukraine in Article 35 clearly states that everyone has the right to freedom of religion. This right should include freedom to practice any religion or to practice no religion at all, to perform individually or collectively the religious rites and rituals, to conduct religious activities.
According to this, we consider a letter of the Ministry of Culture to the UGCC as a fact of unprecedented pressure, which is an inherent evidence of oppressions against hundreds of thousands of believers in Ukraine. We believe that in this situation, the President has all reasons to dismiss the head of the Ministry of Culture.
The leader of the European Party of Ukraine
Mykola Katerynchuk