Russia to defend “spiritual sovereignty” at global level

Members of the temporary Commission of the Federation Council for the Protection of State Sovereignty discussed the possibility of creating pro-church civic associations which will help to protect Russia's sovereignty from threats "in the spiritual plane," Kommersant reports.

"Washington is doing everything to strangle us with the so-called soft power. The issue of attempts to discredit the Russian Orthodox Church is an element of an attack on Russia's sovereignty, " said Andrei Klimov, the Head of the Commission, First Deputy Chairman of the Committee on International Affairs of the State Duma. As an example, the Deputy cited a certain "basic law of 2017" allegedly existing in the US, which directly named NGOs to counter the Kremlin, they are given instructions and money for these purposes. Therefore, according to Klimov, Russian sovereignty should be protected from threats, "which exist, in particular, in the spiritual plane."

The head of the Center for the Study of Religion and Society of the Institue of Europe Roman Lunkin agreed with the Deputy and offered to "beat the enemy with his own weapon". He pointed to the possibility of creating non-profit organizations on the canonical territory of the Russian Orthodox Church that would support Russian sovereignty outside the country. The proposal was approved by Professor of the Moscow Theological Academy Archpriest Vladislav Tsypin.

The interim Commission for the Protection of State Sovereignty has been in existence for two years. As follows from the report presented to the participants of the meeting, the Commission proved "the strategic aspirations of the United States to change the political system of the Russian Federation."