Lithuania will seek to have Russian Orthodox Church leader Patriarch Kirill blacklisted in the seventh package of EU sanctions against the Kremlin, Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis has said.
Patriarch Kirill of Moscow was excluded from the sixth package of sanctions upon Hungary’s request.
“A package of obvious evidence was submitted, which was used as a basis to include Patriarch Kirill [in the draft sixth package]. It would not have been possible without evidence,” Landsbergis told reporters on Thursday.
According to him, the patriarch was excluded from the list of sanctions in the final stage, “after the leaders’ decision, before the publication of a legal document”.
“Obviously, there was even political consensus. I cannot say what were the reasons [for his exclusion]. But this allows us to say that there is a legal basis, that we practically had political consensus, and therefore can try seeking consensus anew,” the minister said.
The sixth EU package of sanctions over Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine came into effect last week. EU leaders agreed to impose an embargo on Russian oil transported by sea. The ban, which does affect pipeline oil imports, was a compromise to win the backing of Hungary and other countries reliant on Russian resources.
It was also Hungary which objected to the inclusion of Patriarch Kirill in the latest package of sanctions. Budapest repeatedly said it was against the blacklist, calling it an issue of religious freedom.
Brussels accuses Patriarch Kirill of supporting the invasion of Ukraine and spreading the Vladimir Putin regime’s propaganda.
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