Ukrainian religious leaders in Berlin spoke about Russian aggression

A five-day visit of the AUCCRO delegation to the capital of Germany began on June 29, 2015.

The organizer of the trip was thelong-timeAUCCROpartner –the German Christian Democrat Konrad Adenauer Foundation. At the airport of Berlin, theUkrainian delegation of religious leaders was welcomed by the head of the foundation in Kyiv Ms Gabriela Baumann.

On the first day of the visit,the delegation met with the President of the Foundation, Hans-Gert Pöttering, former President of the European Parliament. The Foundation officials were also present.

The participants exchanged views on developments in Ukraine, Russian aggression against our country, the role of churches and religious organizations in public life, overcoming conflict and reconciliation.

Dr.Pöttering stressed that Foundation shared the position of the German government on the inadmissibility of Russian occupation of Crimea and aggression in Eastern Ukraine. "This is the position we bring acrossto Russian leaders,” he said.

The meeting proceeded in a constructive spirit, the participants were able to exchange views and experiences on how Ukrainian subjects and of religious, national and social life in Germany.

On June 30 the morning,on the premises of the Foundation’s  Academy there was a meeting with Dr.KarlisAbmayer, the KAF coordinator on religion issues. Ms.Abmayer spoke about the religious situation in Germany, the relationship between religions and the state, between the denominations, public perception of the role of religion. There was also an exchange of views on the issues raised.

 The next meeting was with members of the First Martyr Stephen’s Group of the CDU/CSU factions of Bundestag. The purpose of the group, which includes 80 MPs, is the fight against the persecution of believers, in the first place - the protection of Christians from persecution.

Speakers from German and Ukrainian sides stressed that the cause of war in the east of Ukraine was not a conflict between religions or nations, but the Russian aggression. It was noted that it was important for Europe, particularly for Germany, to know the truth about the causes of conflict in order to overcome the influence of the Kremlin propaganda, which speaks of “civil” and “religious” war, ignoring the key role of Russia as the aggressor.

After the meeting, the delegation made a bus tour of Berlin’s sights.

In the evening,the delegation was received on the premises of the Bundestag by Ombudsman for Churches and Religious Communitiesof the CDU/CSU in the Parliament Dr. Franz Josef Jung, former German government minister. The meeting discussed the situation in Ukraine and over the world, which emerged due to Russia’s aggression against Ukraine. During 1.5 hours, the participants had the opportunity to exchange views and express their vision of different aspects of the situation.

The AUCCRO delegation paying a visit to Berlin includes:

• Patriarch Filaret, Primate of the Kyiv Patriarchate;
• Major Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk, Head of the UGCC;
• Archbishop Peter Malchuk, the representative of the Roman Catholic Church in Ukraine;
• ValeriyAntoniuk, Chairman of the Baptist Evangelical Christians-Baptists;
• Bishop Michael Panochko, President of the Church of Christians of Evangelical Faith of Ukraine (Pentecostal);
• Archpriest MykolaDanilevych, Deputy Head of  the Department for External Relations of the UOC (Moscow Patriarchate);
• Sheikh Ahmed Tamim, Chairman of the Spiritual Directorate of Muslims of Ukraine;
• Gennady Bilorytskyy, Assistant Chief Rabbi of Kyiv and Ukraine of the Union of Jewish Religious Organizations of Ukraine;
• OlexandrZayets, chairman of the Institute for Religious Freedom,

and  the persons accompanying Heads of Churches, Archbishop Yevstratii (UOC-KP) and Archpriest Oleksa Petriv (UGCC).