Russian Orthodox Church thinks of creating pro-Orthodox group in European Parliament

Brussels,  Interfax – Archpriest Antony Ilyin, acting representative of the Moscow patriarchate in European international organizations, has called for the creation of a group promoting Orthodox values in the European Parliament.

“The creation by Orthodox parliamentarians of a group promoting orthodox values in the agenda of the European parliament of the new convocation and in the socio-political life of the EU in general is an ambitious, but a realistic task,” Fr. Antony told Interfax-Religion.

Several parliamentarians, including Tatyana Zhdanok (Latvia) and Slavi Binev (Bulgaria) have reached an agreement to coordinate their efforts in their direction if they get re-elected.

The priest also recalled the position of Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia on the contribution of the Orthodox civilization to the future of Europe.

“The project of European integration began as a Western project, but it can no longer continue as purely Western, especially after the accession of Bulgaria and Romania to the EU, and also taking into account the 8 million Russian diaspora in the EU countries, which is culturally connected to Russian Orthodox traditions,” Fr. Antony said.