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Unexpected turn: Russian Orthodox Church’s valuable Czech properties placed in Hungarian ownership
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The Czech properties of the Russian Orthodox Church, including the Church of Saint Peter and Paul with the famous golden dome, were unexpectedly acquired by the Hungarian Orthodox Diocese. Based on the sources of a Czech investigative journalist, Jiří Hynek, the unexpected transaction, done earlier this year, had to be carried out because the Russian Orthodox Church was concerned about new sanctions.
Czech authorities sanctioned Russian Orthodox leader
According to Telex, Czech authorities have examined the operations of the Russian Orthodox Church in the country before. Furthermore, the Czech government put Patriarch Kirill of Moscow, the Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church, on a sanctions list two years ago for his support for Russia’s war in Ukraine. Kirill was included in one of the EU’s sanctions packages, but the Hungarian government baulked that and had Brussels cross his name from the list. Following the Czech sanctions, several other countries introduced restrictions against the leader of the Russian Orthodox Church, including Lithuania, Estonia, Great Britain, and Canada.
The Czech Foreign Minister, Jan Lipavský, said then that the Russian Orthodox Church has a state role instead of a religious one and its leaders are not priests but members of the Kremlin’s oppressive apparatus. Czechia froze Kirill’s private assets. Authorities initiated a probe concerning the properties of the Russian Orthodox Church but did not intervene and refused to comment on the investigation results.
Russian properties in Hungarian ownership for safety?
Earlier this year, some valuable church properties in Karlovy Vary, one of the country’s most popular bath towns, were acquired by the Hungarian Orthodox Diocese. Based on the sources of a Czech investigative journalist, Jiří Hynek, the Russian Orthodox Church was afraid of new sanctions, so they placed the valuable temple, a villa and the parish in “Hungarian” ownership. This is because they are not afraid of Hungarian sanctions concerning the Russian Orthodox Church or its subsidiaries in Hungary.
This is a really important article. Kirill is an ex-KGB agent or should we say has never left the Russian security service but has worked for them using the Orthodox Church as his cover. The whole Russian Orthodox Church as explained in this article is part of the Russian espionage network. The Russian Orthodox Church should be banned throughout Europe as a foreign espionage actor. So what is the Hungarian Sovereignty Office going to do about it? The will bend over backwards to promote the interests of Russian spies. Hungary is one of Putin’s satellite countries.