Ukrainian parliament passes bill aimed at banning Ukrainian Orthodox Church

MOSCOW. Aug 20 (Interfax) - The Ukrainian parliament has passed as a whole a bill On the Protection of the Constitutional System in the Activity of Religious Organizations, aimed at banning the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, Ukrainian media said.

The bill passed by 265 votes, while 29 voted against and four abstained.

The law will take effect 30 days after publishing. Meanwhile, the government starts drafting bylaws the day after the law is published, and the provision allowing the Ukrainian State Service for Ethnic Policy and Freedom of Conscience to appeal to a court for terminating operations of a religious organization if its connection to the Russian Orthodox Church is established by the service will take effect in nine months.

MPs blocked the parliament rostrum and thwarted a plenary meeting on July 23 over the refusal to discuss the bill banning the Ukrainian Orthodox Church.

On August 16, the Parliament Committee on Humanitarian and Information Policy approved amendments to the bill and recommended that it pass at its second reading and as a whole. The following day, the Ukrainian Council of Churches and Religious Organizations, with representatives of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church absent, voiced its support for the legislative ban on the activity of religious organizations associated with the Russian Orthodox Church in Ukraine.