Estonia's Moscow-linked Orthodox church and a historic convent take the law ordering them to cut ties with Moscow to the European Court of Human Rights

The Estonian Christian Orthodox Church and the Pühtitsa Convent in Kuremäe, in northeastern Estonia, have filed complaints with the European Court of Human Rights over a law requiring them to cut ties with Moscow, Estonian Public Broadcasting (ERR) reported on Thursday, Oct. 8. The church was formerly known as the Estonian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate.

Amendments to Estonia's Churches and Congregations Act took effect on June 27. They bar religious associations from having ties with a religious organization or leader based abroad whose activities endanger the Estonian state. The church must sever its administrative links with Moscow and appoint a new metropolitan by Dec. 28. Estonia's Supreme Court, sitting en banc, upheld the law on June 8 by reading it as covering administrative rather than religious ties; six of its 17 judges, including the chief justice, dissented, according to ERR.

"What the Interior Ministry actually wants is for local Orthodox believers to renounce their religious ties with a church that has existed for more than a thousand years," said Artur Knjazev, a lawyer for the church and convent. He said the ministry intends to seek the church's dissolution in court if the ties are not cut. Another lawyer, Steven-Hristo Evestus, said no court ruling or charge has found wrongdoing by either body. Knjazev noted that the convent is home to about 90 nuns, most of them over 60.

Ringo Ringvee, an adviser in the Interior Ministry's religious affairs department, said, "Freedom of religion is guaranteed in Estonia and will remain so. The state does not interfere in how anyone practices their faith." He said ministry officials met with the church the week before and agreed to begin reviewing its statutes, and that "we are currently in a phase of dialogue. At the same time, the law must be implemented." He noted that of nearly 600 religious associations in Estonia, only this church has challenged the law.

Allar Jõks, a former chancellor of justice, told ERR on Oct. 10 that the complaints have little chance because the court requires applicants to exhaust domestic remedies first, and the Dec. 28 deadline has not yet passed. Estonia's other major Orthodox body, the Estonian Apostolic Orthodox Church under the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople, is not affected.