In his hybrid war against the EU, Putin is using religion and holy diplomacy to undermine Moldova’s aspiration to EU membership
At the United Nations and the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), Moldovan lobbyists in cassock – or without – used by President Putin and Patriarch Kirill leading the Russian Orthodox Church in Moscow (ROC) have recently loudly accused the Moldovan State of grave violations of religious freedom.
One of their objectives is to block Moldova’s path to EU membership. Their main propagandist is Rev. Marchel Michaescu, the Archbishop of the Moldovan Orthodox Church (MOC) subordinated to Patriarch Kirill.
The European Parliament is also a target of Moscow’s propagandists. Recently, two Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) have lent them their voice: MEP Fernand Kartheiser and MEP Barbara Bonte.
MEP Fernand Kartheiser is the sole representative of the Luxembourg “Alternative Democratic Reform Party” (ADR) in the European Parliament. In June 2025, he was expelled from the European Conservatives and Reformists political group (ECR) for visiting Russia despite the political line of the ECR.
MEP Barbara Bonte (Patriots for Europe Political Group of Viktor Orban and Marine Le Pen) was sitting in the Flemish Parliament from 2014 to 2015 as a member of the Belgian extreme-right and separatist Vlaams Belang.
MEP Fernand Kartheiser, a target of Putin’s lobbyists in the Parliament
On 7 May 2025, MEP Fernand Kartheiser addressed the following question to the Commission:
“On 17 April 2025, the Moldovan authorities prevented Archbishop Marchel, of the Moldovan Orthodox Church linked to the Moscow Patriarchate, from travelling to Jerusalem for the the Holy Fire Ceremony. He was detained at Chisinau airport without any official explanation, raising concerns about respect for religious freedom.
As the EU has opened accession negotiations with Moldova, the country is obliged to fully respect the fundamental principles of the Union, such as the rule of law, human rights and religious freedoms. Any failure to respect these values could jeopardise its future within the European Union.
In light of the above:
1.What is the Commission’s view of this incident? Does the Commission view this as an infringement of religious freedom in Moldova?
2.Does the Commission intend to raise this issue with the Moldovan authorities and warn them that they must avoid the kind of abuse in Moldova that we have seen perpetrated in Ukraine, namely against Orthodox Christians belonging to the Moscow Patriarchate or Russian-speaking citizens?”
No doubt that these questions had been whispered in his ear, in one way or another, by Moldovan propagandists.
On 21 August 2025, the European Commission answered:
“The Commission notes the concerns regarding the alleged incident involving Archbishop Marchel of the Moldovan Orthodox Church.
The 2024 Enlargement Report (*) highlights that Moldova largely upholds the freedom of religion and belief, with no documented violations reported.
The country has implemented a national strategy aimed at cultivating tolerance to address issues such as racism, anti-Semitism, xenophobia, and other forms of intolerance, in accordance with the Commission’s guidance. A new enlargement report for 2025 is anticipated to be released in the fall of 2025.
The Commission remains committed to upholding the principles of rule of law, human rights and fundamental freedoms, including the freedom of religion or belief, as core EU values. These principles are central to Moldova’s EU accession process.”
Belgian MEP Barbara Bonte, another target of Putin’s lobbyists in the Parliament
On 3 October 2025, MEP Barbara Bonte asked the European Commission the following written parliamentary question:
In a letter to the UN, the NGO ‘Zmogaus Teisiu Apsauga’ reports several cases of discrimination on grounds of religion against members of the Orthodox Church of Moldova (59th session of the UN Human Rights Council, ref. A/HRC/59/NGO/115). Among other things, travel restrictions, confiscation of personal property, financial sanctions and revocation of property rights in favour of another Church are said to be taking place with the support of the government.
However, as a candidate country, Moldova is required to comply with Article 10 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the EU.
1.Is the Commission aware of these violations of religious freedom in Moldova?
2.Has the Commission raised this issue with the Moldovan Government?
3.What concrete steps is the Commission taking to monitor the situation in Moldova?
As of the publication date of this article, it was too early to expect an answer but the strategy of Putin concerning Moldova is clear: to hire Orthodox clerics and other propagandists to approach ‘marginal’ MEPs and others of far-right and extreme-right parties in the European Parliament to achieve a political agenda aiming at blocking the access of Moldova to EU membership.
MEPs need to look for reliable sources of information before asking parliamentary questions when they are approached by lobbyists.
EU and international assessments of religious freedom unanimously in favor of the Moldovan State
The most recent assessment of the EU was its Enlargement Report, dated 30 October 2024, saying : “The right to freedom of religion or belief in Moldova is generally respected. There were no reports of breaches of freedom of religion or belief. Moldova has in place a national action plan promoting the memory of the Holocaust and the culture of tolerance to combat racism, anti-Semitism, xenophobia and other forms of intolerance in line with the Commission’s recommendation.”
In the last 10 years, there has not been any court decision against Moldova about freedom of religion or belief (FoRB) at the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg and there are no FoRB prisoners in the country, while there are a lot in Russia, especially Jehovah’s Witnesses.
The current and previous UN Special Rapporteurs on FoRB have not expressed specific concerns about the situation in Moldova.
The last annual report of the U.S. State Department mentions some disputes between the Bessarabian Orthodox Church (BOC) and the Moldovan Orthodox Church (MOC) but no FoRB violations by the State.
According to the 2025 World Report of Aid to the Church in Need (ACN International) hailed by Pope Leo XIV, the war in Ukraine has particularly strained the relations of the MOC with both the BOC and the State because the MOC Metropolitan Vladimir reaffirmed its full allegiance to the Russian Orthodox Church. This led to internal dissent in the MOC and the split then resulted in a shift with over 60 priests deciding to wilfully join the Metropolis of Bessarabia by December 2023. Since then, the internal secessions from the MOC and transfers to the BOC jurisdiction have continued. This has led to ongoing and increasing disputes between the two Orthodox Churches over property and jurisdiction. The Catholic ACN report clearly distances itself from the narrative and accusations of the MOC Archbishop Marchel.
Most Orthodox adherents (approximately 90 percent) belong to the MOC, which is subordinate to the Russian Orthodox Church; the remaining 10 percent belong to the BOC, which falls under the Romanian Orthodox Church.
(*) “The “Enlargement Report” is a comprehensive assessment by the European Commission of a country’s progress and readiness to join the European Union, based on defined political, economic and legal criteria.”
