Patriarch Filaret of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church-Kyivan Patriarchate (UOC-KP) praises Ukraine's movement toward the European Union and believes that Ukrainians should support this direction of Ukraine’s foreign policy.
“The Ukrainian state and its consolidation will take place when it enters the European Union. Therefore, we must maintain this area of our foreign policy,” he said.
Patriarch Filaret said that as a cleric, he has no right to interfere in politics, but as head of the church he feels responsible for the fate of the state.
“Although I have no right to interfere in politics, as head of the church I understand that if Ukraine will not be a state, there will be no Ukrainian Church. And if there will be no Ukrainian Church, there will be no Ukrainian state,” said the head of the Kyivan Patriarchate.
“Besides, you see now Russia’s struggle for Ukraine. A fierce struggle. I do not mean to say that it’s a cold war, but cold from the north is blowing very strongly. Therefore, we must enter into the European Union in order to establish ourselves as a state. If we are in the EU, the Ukrainian state, we can say, will be forever. And if we do not join, there is a danger that the struggle will continue until we break,” said Patriarch Filaret.