On October 9, 2023, a lengthy interview of Sergii Bortnyk with Thomas Bremer, until recently professor at the University of Muenster, Germany, was published on the Dialog.tut resource. Its title is “I do not see the Ukrainian Orthodox Church leading anti-Ukrainian activities”. At the end of September, his assessment of the report of the expert commission at the State Service for Ethnopolitics and Freedoms of Conscience was published, and it raised a number of questions and prompted this interview. Below we publish some quotes from it.
“Among Ukrainians there is a political and religious diversity; but it does not limit the Ukrainian essence. So I am… sceptical to the attempts to characterize the faithful of the UOC as ‘bad’ or ‘indecent’ Ukrainians”.
“Historically, Ukraine has had close relations and ties with Russia quite often and for long periods. But gradually, Ukrainians chose another way – in direction to Europe, and therefore these relations with Russia are of only historical importance. The problem arises when – as Putin and Kirill do – conclusions from history are drawn for the present time…”
“I suppose that the problem of Ukraine is that both Orthodox churches claim to be the only legitimate representative of Ukrainian Orthodoxy and this is the basis of disputes … Today, through the new government policy and specifically through the ‘Conclusion of Religious Expertise’ of the DESS (together with law no. 8371), the state takes a position on the matter which of the two churches is legitimate. But this is neither its task nor its competence”.
“Fundamental values and fundamental rights must be defended even in extreme situations. Of course, the state must counteract all those who threaten its existence – both during the war and in peacetime. But at the same time, it should not violate its own principles. The protection of religious freedom (or any other right) is not fulfilled through its restrictions”.
“The fact that during the war a certain number of people violated the laws and that they belong to a certain organization, in this case to the Church, does not justify the prohibition of this Church. For the ban, it is necessary to prove its systemic anti-Ukrainian activities. However, in fact, I do not see such activities”.
“I expect that both churches will exist in Ukraine for a long time. Therefore, sooner or later they will have to understand how they want to coexist. They can continue to ignore each other, but reality already shows that this leads to a decline of people’s interest in the church matters. Therefore, for both Orthodox churches it would be wiser to improve their communication with each other”.
You can read the full text of the interview with Prof. Thomas Bremer in Ukrainian at https://www.dialogtut.org/ya-ne-bachu-shhob-upcz-vela-antyukrayinsku-diyalnist-profesor-tomas-bremer/