"We are currently comparing these options. If there are no other options, then there is also the possibility of forced dissolution, which the minister of the interior has proposed as a last resort," Ringvee told ERR's "Otse uudistemajast" podcast on Wednesday. "But we can also talk about clergy or congregations moving to another Church," he added.

In addition to the MPEÕK, the Estonian Apostolic-Orthodox Church (EAÕK), which is linked to the Patriarch of Constantinople, is also active in Estonia and is the legal successor of the Orthodox Church that existed in Estonia before 1940.

Ringvee said that about 1,500 Orthodox clergy outside of Russia's borders have declared Patriarch Kirill of Moscow's doctrine, which defends the current Russian regime's actions and encourages aggression against Ukraine, to be heretical, and parishes could renounce him if this were the case.

In the event of a forced dissolution, however, the religious community would cease to exist and its ties with the Moscow Patriarchate would be severed, he explained. "They could reform in such a way that the link no longer exists," he said.

In response to the question of whether the new religious community could, if it wished, re-establish this link with Moscow, Ringvee said: "Or not. [Because] if it's created again, you're back to exactly the same problem."

According to him, it comes down to how the church is structured and the people who fill the leadership roles. "It's possible to move people around as needed, it's possible to bring in new people – play with the whole picture," Ringvee said.

He stressed that it is certainly not the goal of the state to send police into church buildings to evict priests.

"I think it will never happen. When we talk about the statement of the Minister of Interior, the political statement [of the Riigikogu] (calling for severing ties with the Moscow Patriarchate - ed.), we are talking about the security context, security issues - not issues of religion, issues of practicing religion. we are talking about the security context, security issues –not issues of religion, issues of practicing religion. Nobody wants to restrict the practice of religion, it is the links with Moscow and the messages and all the propaganda coming from Moscow that is the problem," explained a religious advisor at the Interior Ministry.

The MPEÕK comes under the canonical (religious) jurisdiction of the Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia, although it is a self-governing church in some respects, according to the Statute of the Russian Orthodox Church.

Canonically, the MPEÕK is part of the Moscow Patriarchate, headed by Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia. According to the statute of the Moscow Patriarchate, its jurisdiction extends to Orthodox believers living in the canonical territories of the Russian Orthodox Church, which it considers to include Estonia.

Organized by the Moscow Patriarchate and under the leadership of Patriarch Kirill, the statement adopted at the World Russian People's Council on March 27 called for a "holy war" with the West, which carries "satanic values." It justified Russia's war in Ukraine as a "fight against evil." The statement also considers the Estonian state an enemy of the Moscow Patriarchate because it supports Ukraine, and therefore there is also a holy war against Estonia.

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