Estonian authorities have decided not to extend the residence permit of Metropolitan Yevgeniy (real name Valery Reshetnikov), head of the Estonian Orthodox Church under the Moscow Patriarchate (ROC-MP), ERR reported, citing the Police and Border Guard Directorate.
Indrek Aru, head of the Border Guard Bureau of the Northern Prefecture (the capital Tallinn), explains the decision by the fact that, according to the authorities, Reshetnikov expressed in his public activities support for Russia’s actions in Ukraine.
“Despite earlier warnings, Reshetnikov did not change his rhetoric, which is incompatible with values and inappropriate for the Estonian legal field. Therefore, Reshetnikov is recognized as a threat to the security of the state,” said the police press service.
The office specified that they took into account the activity of Metropolitan Yevgeniy as a representative of the Moscow Patriarchate in Estonia. His residence permit expires on February 6. According to the authorities, “since Reshetnikov has no reason to stay in the country, such as close relatives in Estonia, he will have to leave Estonia after his residence permit expires.”
Metropolitan Yevgeniy lived in Estonia on the basis of a temporary residence permit for a total of four years. He was issued a shortened residence permit, i.e. twice for two years. The last renewal was two years ago, shortly before the outbreak of war.
In October 2022, the Estonian authorities gave Metropolitan Yevgeniy a two-day deadline to disassociate himself from his superior, Russian Patriarch Kirill, over his infamous statement that Russians who died in the war against Ukraine would go to heaven. Otherwise, they threatened to extradite him. Then a letter appeared on the page of the Estonian Metropolitanate, with which he responded to the authorities and distanced himself from the position of Patriarch Kirill. A little later, however, the letter was removed from the church page.
Metropolitan Yevgeniy (b. 1957 in Kazakhstan) was a long-time chairman of the Educational Committee of the ROC-MP and rector of the Moscow Theological Seminary and Academy (1995-2018).
