Russia is going to draw European countries' attention to the refusal by the Estonian authorities to register the Estonian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate. An international seminar on freedom of religion in Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) countries will be held on Tuesday in the Knights' Hall of the Dutch parliament in the Hague. According to Father Nikolai, secretary for inter-Orthodox relations of the external church relations department of the Moscow Patriarchate, a Russian delegation will inform seminar participants of the position of the Russian Orthodox Church and State Duma deputies on the new draft law recently adopted by the Estonian parliament "On Churches and Parishes", which in effect outlaws the Estonian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate.
The seminar will be attended by the current OSCE chairman, UN representatives, leading experts and religious leaders from OSCE member-states. The main subject of the seminar is recognition and registration of religious communities and limitation of the scope of activity of such communities.