Authors

Hanna Hodgetts¹;  ¹ University of Oxford, UK

Discussion

Numerous scholars have established that the Russian and Serbian Orthodox Churches acts as foreign influence instruments or tools of ‘soft power’ through their subordinated churches (Solik and Baar, 2019; Mandic, 2022; Blitt, 2023; Filipovic, 2023). However, little attention has been paid to the reaction of political elites in countries that are subject to such foreign religious influence. This paper examines church-state relations between 2016 and 2023 in three countries that host a subordinated Orthodox Church: Montenegro, Latvia and Ukraine. Relying on the theoretical foundations of the Copenhagen School of International Relations, it argues that political elites in these three countries have pursued securitising strategies to limit foreign religious influence; these strategies include 1) amending church property laws (Ukraine and Montenegro), 2) engaging autocephaly claims (Ukraine, Latvia and Montenegro), 3) backing rival, national churches (Montenegro and Ukraine) and 4) forcing a separation between the subordinated church and the Mother Church (Latvia).

The paper draws on legislative texts combined with over 15 interviews with members of the Montenegrin, Latvian and Ukrainian clergy and state officials. It comprises analysis of the 2019 Law on Religious Freedom in Montenegro, the 2022 Declaration of autocephaly by the Latvian Saeima and the recent Ukrainian draft laws concerning the UOC-MP. In addition, the paper explores what role formal and moral consent play in the success of these securitising measures