"We've already had our first meetings, and in the new week we're planning to take this action even further," said Raivo Küüt, deputy secretary general for population and civil society at the Ministry of the Interior on Friday at a briefing. Meetings are currently being arranged, he added.

Küüt and Ringo Ringvee, adviser to the religious affairs department of the ministry, explained that although the leaders of the MPEÕK say they are not directly subject to the Moscow Patriarchate, they must still obey orders.

The organization recently called Russia's war against Ukraine a "holy war", and said Western countries have fallen into the clutches of Satanism.

The ministry has suggested MPEÕK cut ties with the Moscow Patriarchate and, for example, join the Estonian Apostolic-Orthodox Church (EAÕK), which is subordinate to the Patriarch of Constantinople.

"We will start meeting with congregations and church leaders to seek solutions to the current situation," Küüt said.

The ministry said it is helping to stop the exploitation of congregations in the cause of Russian aggression.

While no actions by MPEÕK clergymen or parishioners against Estonia have been recorded, the ministry said such a threat exists while it is bound to the Moscow Patriarchate.

Küüt repeatedly emphasized that the state does not intend to close down churches subordinate to MPEÕK or prevent the work of congregations.

"Church services will continue in any case," he stressed.

Minister of the Interior Lauri Läänemets (SDE) last Thursday suggested classifying the Moscow Patriarchate as an institution supporting terror. The organization has close links to President Vladimir Putin.

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