Foreign Ministry develops cooperation with religious organizations internationally

The Public Council for Cooperation with Religious Organizations of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine discussed issues of cooperation between diplomats and religious leaders at the international level.

This was referred to during a meeting held on October 20, 2015 under the chairmanship of the head of the Institute for Religious Freedom Oleksandr Zayets with the participation of Foreign Ministry officials and representatives of the All Ukrainian Council of Churches and Religious Organizations.

The participants exchanged views on strengthening the effectiveness of speeches in the international forums to counter Russian propaganda and defend Ukraine's position in terms of aggression, the Institute of Religious Freedom reports.

During the meeting, Chairman of the Public Council, representatives of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, the Union of Jewish Religious Organizations of Ukraine, the Ministry of Culture of Ukraine and the MFA of Ukraine told about participation in international events during June - October 2015. In particular, members of the Public Council were  involvedin additional second meeting of the OSCE in human dimension entitled "Freedom of religion or belief, strengthening mutual respect and understanding" (July 2-3, 2015, Vienna, Austria) and the annual meeting on the implementation of commitments of OSCE human dimension (September 21-  October 2, 2015, Warsaw, Poland).

The participants also discussed current issues of religious activities in Ukraine who need assistance of the MFA. Members of the Public Council made suggestions as for improvement of organization of Hasidic pilgrimage to the city of Uman, joint events to mark anniversaries and monitoring of the religious situation in Ukraine, in Crimea and Donbas.

Participating in the meeting of the Public Council was MP of Ukraine, Ph.D. Victor Yelenskyy. The parliamentarian set forth some proposals to improve the effectiveness of church-state dialogue as part of its foreign policy. First of all, the dissemination of information about the high level of religious freedom in Ukraine and refute anti-Ukrainian imputations of Russia.

It was also agreed to coordinate the positions of different churches on implementation of the international interfaith dialogue, important international issues, preparation of proposals to be considered at meetings of the Public Council on the above issues which require the adoption of balanced decisions.