Lithuania banned Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia Kirill (Vladimir Gundyaev) from entering its territory. This is reported by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania.
The ministry said in a statement that the entry was denied because of its support for Russia's war in Ukraine.
The head of the country's Foreign Ministry, Gabrielius Landsbergis, spoke out that the EU should include Gundyaev in the sanctions list. He emphasized that the inclusion of the patriarch in the sanctions list is supported by the ambassadors and heads of all 27 EU countries.
On June 16, the British authorities added Gundyaev to the sanctions list. He is banned from entering the UK, and the sanctions also include freezing assets and restricting doing business with organizations that are associated with people from the "black" list. Following the UK, Canada imposed sanctions against the patriarch.
Pope Francis said that Patriarch Kirill, during a conversation for twenty minutes, read from a piece of paper and gave arguments justifying Russia's war against Ukraine. Later, the Russian Orthodox Church published a speech by Gundyaev, in which he, addressing the Pope, spoke about the "flying time of missiles" and the expansion of NATO. In April, 190 priests of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) of the Moscow Patriarchate demanded that Patriarch Kirill be brought before a church tribunal for supporting Russia's war against Ukraine.
