Kirill is close to Putin and supports the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine.
(Photo: AP)
Brussels The Russian Orthodox Church leader Patriarch Kirill is said to be on the EU sanctions list because of his support for the war of aggression against Ukraine. As several diplomats from the German Press Agency in Brussels confirmed, the European External Action Service and the EU Commission have submitted a corresponding proposal to the member states. It is part of the draft sixth package of sanctions against Russia currently being discussed by member states.
Specifically, sanctions against Kirill would mean that the cleric would no longer be allowed to enter the EU. In addition, assets that he may have in the EU would have to be frozen.
According to EU figures, 1,093 individuals and 80 organizations are already subject to such penalties for committing acts that undermine the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine.
Kirill maintains close contact with President Vladimir Putin and has so far shown himself to be very loyal to the Kremlin. In his sermons, the 75-year-old repeatedly supported the war policy and recently even claimed that Russia had never attacked another country. The head of the Catholic Church, Pope Francis, recently canceled a planned meeting with Kirill.
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Kirill’s spokesman Vladimir Legoida criticized the planned sanctions as “indiscriminate and pointless”. Kirill was also not to be frightened by such statements. The patriarch “comes from a family whose members faced decades of repression for their faith and moral stance during communist godlessness,” he wrote on his Telegram channel.
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