Dumitru-Viorel Focsha, member of the Chamber of Deputies of the Romanian Parliament, sharply condemned the actions of the Ukrainian authorities against the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. “The OCU is Poroshenko’s political move, which was adopted by Zelensky, an artificially created “church” that received the blessing of the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, which caused a lot of confusion in Ukraine,” the politician said in a video posted on his Facebook page.

“Priests of the UOC are subordinate to Metropolitan Onufriy and in no way intend to go over to the OCU. Since the OCU has the support of the President, armed people and SSU officers come to the temples of the UOC with searches and threats, instill fear in the priests, forcibly undress them and take pictures. There is total madness!” he wrote.

The deputy noted that “the blessing of Bartholomew sowed great discord, and Metropolitan Longin (Zhar) speaks very harshly in his sermons about the actions of the patriarch.”

The parliamentarian stressed that the clergy of the Romanian Orthodox communities, which are in the bosom of the UOC, are under pressure from the authorities.