The Estonian Christian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate — LF) is so far only creating the appearance of change, and no real break in ties with Moscow has taken place.

Estonian scholar and professor of international law Evhen Tsybulenko said this in an interview with LF.

He stressed that the organization had changed its name and was now called the Estonian Christian Orthodox Church, with the reference to the Moscow Patriarchate removed from its name. Some amendments were made to its statutes, but its canonical ties were not severed.

“Their position now is roughly as follows: financially and administratively, we were already independent, but we cannot sever the canonical ties.

At the same time, the leadership has effectively remained unchanged. Metropolitan Yevgeny, who was sent from Russia, was based in Estonia for some time. His residence permit was subsequently not renewed. He is now in Russia but continues to lead the church from there.

The question therefore arises as to how far these changes represent a genuine separation and how far they amount to formal compliance with the requirements,” Evhen Tsybulenko said.