The press office of the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) launched an attack on Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew accusing him of his policy regarding Ukraine, while also claiming that he is supported by Western intelligence services. As reported by TASS, the SVR claims in a statement that British intelligence services actively support the activities of Patriarch Bartholomew.
The reference reflects the dispute that has erupted for years between Constantinople and the Moscow Patriarchate regarding the autocephaly granted to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, a move that infuriated Moscow. “British intelligence services actively support him, fueling Russophobic sentiments in European countries,” the SVR stated, adding that Patriarch Bartholomew “found common ground with the authorities of the Baltic states in an attempt to sow discord in the Russian Orthodox world“.
Russian Foreign Intelligence Service against Bartholomew: Aggressive stance that is not limited to Ukraine
“The Ecumenical Patriarch relies on his ideological allies, represented by local nationalists and neo-Nazis, in an attempt to detach the Orthodox Churches of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia from the Moscow Patriarchate, dragging their priests and faithful into artificial religious structures created by Constantinople“.
Meanwhile, the press office noted that the Ecumenical Patriarch plans to grant autocephaly to the unrecognized Orthodox Church of Montenegro in order to strike against the Serbian Orthodox Church.
They even accuse Patriarch Bartholomew of an “aggressive stance” that “is not limited to Ukraine and the Baltic countries“.
They speak of a “devious spirit” on the part of the Patriarch that “is gradually spreading to the countries of Eastern Europe. In order to launch a campaign to suppress the ‘particularly persistent’ Serbian Orthodox Church, he plans to grant autocephaly to the unrecognized Orthodox Church of Montenegro,” the SVR emphasized.
