Tallinn, December 6, 2024
The building in Tallinn where the Estonian Church’s chancellery is located. Photo: Kesklinna valitsus
Starting this month, the Estonian Orthodox Church has to pay more than double the previous rent for the premises housing its administration in the Kesklinn District of Tallinn.
Estonia is pressuring the Estonian Church to break ties with the Moscow Patriarchate and 
Estonian Orthodox Church formally rejects proposal to join Constantinople’s jurisdictionOn September 19, the head of the EAOC proposed at a session of the Estonian Council of Churches to create a Russian vicariate to subsume parishes of the EOC-MP.
“>join the Constantinople Patriarchate, which has its own presence in the country. While the Estonian Church has opposed the war and authorities confess they have 
Estonian gov’t sees no tangible threat from Estonian Church but pressuring its parishes to join Constantinople“We’ve already held the first [parish] meetings and plan to further expand this activity next week,” said Raivo Kuyt, Vice Chancellor for Population and Civil Society of the Ministry of the Interior.”>found no evidence of wrongdoing, the government expelled His Eminence Metropolitan Evgeny of Tallinn 
Metropolitan Evgeny forced to leave EstoniaHis Eminence Metropolitan Evgeny of Tallinn and All Estonia was forced to leave the country today after the authorities refused to renew his residence permit.”>in February and is demanding that the Church unilaterally end its connection to the Moscow Patriarchate, despite its autonomy in administration.
Estonia: Bill submitted to ban churches tied to the Moscow PatriarchateThe Estonian Ministry of the Interior has seriously ramped up its pressure on the Estonian Orthodox Church as Minister Lauri Läänemets has proposed new legislation to ban religious organizations connected to the Moscow Patriarchate.
“>In October, Interior Minister Lauri Läänemets proposed to prohibit the activities of any parish connected to the Moscow Patriarchate.
And on a local level, the Kesklinn District Administration sent the Church a letter in April terminating the lease agreement for the premises on Pikk Street. The building was to be vacated by July 21, but the Church challenged the termination in court, which has yet to issue a decision.
In response, the district administration has bumped the monthly rent from $865 (820 euros) to $1,800 (1,707 euros), reports err.ee.
“The legal dispute over this matter isn’t resolved yet, and while the Church continues to use these premises for its activities, the district administration will issue monthly damage compensation bills,” said Sander Andla, head of the Kesklinn District administration.
“I consider it unjustified that a tenant whose contract the city terminated continues operating in city-owned spaces while paying significantly below market value. Therefore, we set the damage compensation amount at market rate. And I still believe that the EOC-MP should vacate the office space in the Old Town,” said Andla.
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