The European Union Parliament could be on a collision course with Russia – including the Russian Orthodox Church.
A draft resolution which is being debated discusses the role of Russian propaganda, through channels such as the RT television news channel. It also names the Church as an agent of government messages.
Since being restored after the end of Communist rule, the Russian Orthodox Church has become more and more closely associated with the Russian government. President Putin and the Patriarch Kirill of Moscow are known to be close.
The EU initiative comes from a Polish politician, Anna Fotyga. Poland, a heavily Roman Catholic country, is known to be nervous about Russia's possible aggression on its borders.
The draft resolution says: "The Russian authorities are actively using a wide range of tools, including multilingual channels (like RT), news agencies, social and religious groups (including the Russian Orthodox Church, social networks and internet-bots), to challenge Western values, to divide Europe and to gain support in their own country."
The Russian regime has been accused of interfering with the American presidential election in an unprecedented way. Putin's administration is also accused of human rights abuses and stifling free speech within Russia as well as an expansionist foreign policy – in Ukraine, Georgia, and other areas of Eastern Europe.
