Raivo Küüt, undersecretary for the Ministry of the Interior, said after meeting with representatives of the Resurrection of Christ Church in Narva that the ministry plans to meet with all MPEÕK congregations to discuss how they could sever from the Moscow patriarchate, which the Estonian parliament is in the process of declaring an organization that supports terrorism.

"We'll definitely need to end the situation where the head of the church in Estonia is appointed by the Moscow patriarch. That is the formal side. But this relationship [with Moscow] also needs to end on the face of things," Küüt said.

The undersecretary suggested that ideally, congregations currently in Moscow's jurisdictions could answer to the Estonian Apostolic Orthodox Church instead, which is the legal successor of the single Orthodox church in Estonia as it operated before World War Two.

But Küüt also said that should negotiations fail and no other solution be found, it could lead to compulsory dissolution.

"It seems to me that solutions have been found and that the sides can deploy their wisdom to pick the right one."

Reverend Mattias Palli of the Estonian Apostolic Orthodox Church said that the latter is not a party to negotiations, while EAÕK could offer MPEÕK congregations the chance to enter its structure as independent units.

"We could call it a vicariate or a kind of auxiliary bishopric. We'll come up with the name, but the idea is that they would not have to fear being assimilated, while we wouldn't have to be wary of the problems this would create," Palli said.

The reverend said that the Patriarchal Exarchate for Orthodox Parishes of Russian Tradition in Western Europe based in Paris serves as an example of something similar. But such mergers are sure to take time.

"In the long run, the ideal solution would of course be a single church in the country – a single Orthodox structure," Palli noted.

He added that congregations that currently answer to Moscow and the Kuremäe Convent could only join EAÕK voluntarily.

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