Ringo Ringvee, religious affairs adviser at the ministry, told ERR on Tuesday that MPEÕK has not made a decision. The next meeting will take place later this month and MPEÕK should clarify its position.

MPEÕK's Bishop Daniel said work is ongoing but a final decision has not been agreed.

"We are in the process of doing that and we cannot give a united answer that we are going anywhere. We are dealing with matters concerning our statute, we are in contact with the representatives of the Patriarchate. There was an opinion that we would meet [with the ministry] in the second half of July. We would all like these things to be done according to the rule of law. These processes do not happen in a day and a week," he told ERR.

In April, Minister of Interior Lauri Läänemets (SDE) said he wanted MPEÕK to break off relations with Moscow over comments made by Patriarch Kirill. It has been suggested MPEÕK join the Constantinople Patriarchate instead.

"Today, let's say one person was wrong. Then I moved under the canonical leadership of another person. Tomorrow, another person is wrong – do I then have to look for a third person? This is not the way things have ever been done in the church, and I would very much like them not to happen now as a result of state intervention. In politics, we see that people change and governments change and parties change – it all happens very quickly. In the church we would expect a slightly different approach," Bishop Daniel said.

He said the ministry does not appear to be in a hurry when asked if MPEÕK may be forced to change if the process takes too long. Daniel said MPEÕK's lawyers had communicated with the ministry.

Ringvee said: "All the options are on the table and we will look at it step by step."

Canonically, 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.

The statement, published by the Moscow Patriarchate under the leadership of Patriarch Kirill and adopted by the World Russian Council of Peoples on March 27, called for a "holy war with the satanic values" of the West and justified Russia's war in Ukraine as a "fight against Evil". Estonia is viewed as an enemy by the organization as it supports Ukraine and therefore there is also a holy war against Estonia.

On May 6, the Riigikogu declared the Moscow Patriarchate as an institution that supports Russia's war in Ukraine.

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