Politics
Three hundred Moldovan priests went on a “free pilgrimage” to Russia
More than three hundred Moldovan priests went on a “pilgrimage” to Moscow, with all their expenses covered. The organization of the clergy took place on Viber, and as the sponsor of the entire event, Moldovan media named Ilon Shor – a former Moldovan politician and banker, sentenced to fifteen years in prison for major fraud, who fled to Russia in 2023, and this year received a Russian citizenship. In each diocese of the small Moldovan Metropolitanate (MP), there were several trusted persons – from metropolitan to deacons, who gathered participants.
The priests travel with their wives and parishioners in three groups – in the months of August and September, with the first of one hundred and twenty people leaving at the end of August. The first group of over a hundred people was photographed by Moldovan television at the airport in Chisinau and thus it becomes clear about the event organized by the Moscow Patriarchate.
In Moscow, the priests participated in “several religious conferences and had a meeting with high-ranking officials of the Moscow Patriarchate.” The center of the conversations were the problems of the Russian Orthodox Church and the “persecution against the Ukrainian Church”. Guests from Moldova were impressed with “royal receptions” and rich meals. They also visited the largest plant for church utensils “Sofrino”, where they received gifts for their parishes.
Finally, many of the clerics received MIR bank cards from the sanctioned Promsvyazbank for supporting the Russian war in Ukraine. The priests received the bank cards at a ceremony at the Theological Academy in Moscow. Each priest has signed a contract with the bank, and the card does not have his name on it, but the bank account is his. They were promised that they would receive 1,000 euros in “temple aid” each month.
Moscow Patriarchate spokesman Vladimir Legoida said “pilgrimages can have a very big impact.”
Hundreds of priests have agreed to the “free pilgrimage “, although they admit that the very procedure and form of the organization is strange. “Many priests are confused about the program and purpose of the visit, as the pilgrimage does not fit into any festive or religious context,” noted a source from the Chisinau Metropolitanate, which denied being the organizer.
The purpose of the venture is to buy the clerics under a good pretext to influence public opinion in the upcoming presidential elections in Moldova, in which Ilon Shor is participating through a party from Moscow, and for the October 20 referendum on the country’s accession to the European Union.
The visits of the priests were not supposed to become public, but after local media revealed that the hundreds of tickets were bought at once by a Russian agency, and the clerics are expected to exert political influence after their return at a critical moment for the state, the press office of Chisinau The Metropolitanate stated that “the visits have no pre-election or political goals, but aim to acquaint the Moldovan clergy with the spiritual and historical heritage of Orthodox Russia, strengthening the fraternal ties between the two Orthodox churches.”
The press service of the Metropolitanate of Moldova also stated that “the pilgrimages are organized for priests with limited resources, especially from the poor rural areas of Moldova, and do not pursue political goals.”
“The priests who returned from Moscow denied any form of financial support from their hosts. The Metropolitan will closely monitor this case and will take all necessary measures to prevent the participation of clergy in political or pre-election activities” – this is stated in a press release of the Metropolitan of Chisinau.
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The fee for traveling abroad, which Turkish citizens pay, is increased from 150 to 500 Turkish lira (about 14 euros). The Ordinance was published in the issue of the Turkish State Gazette (Resmi Gazete) dated August 2, 2024.
The fee for going abroad is a type of tax that must be paid by every Turkish citizen over the age of 7 when going abroad.
Inflation in Turkey, which was 71.6 percent in June, once again hit the pockets of Turkish citizens. Compared to 2022, the fee for going abroad has risen by 233 percent, according to the newspaper “Birgun”. This will put a heavy burden on families’ budgets when they travel abroad with children over 7 years old.
The fee for going abroad in the amount of the then 100 dollars was introduced in 1963 by a decision of the Council of Ministers and applied until 1996, when it was abolished. In 2001, it began to be applied again, and its amount was 50 dollars. Since 2007, it has been 15 pounds. After 12 years of implementation, in 2019 the amount of the fee was increased to 50 Turkish lira.
In March 2022, by decree of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the fee was increased to 150 Turkish lira.
The latest increase was proposed by Treasury and Finance Minister Mehmet Simsek. According to media reports, the proposal was to make the fee 3,000 Turkish lira (about $90 or 83.50 euros), but that proposal sparked strong protests, including among the ruling Justice and Development Party, and was dropped.
According to official data, the revenue from fees for going abroad in 2023 was 1 billion 311 million Turkish lira. From the beginning of this year to the month of April, the revenue from the fee is in the amount of 427 million Turkish lira.
Fifteen Turkish liras of the fee are paid to TOKI – the State Agency for Housing Construction.
Turkish citizens holding dual citizenship are exempt from paying the fee.
The application of the new regulation entered into force on August 12 of this year.
Illustrative Photo by Enes Akdoğan: https://www.pexels.com/photo/a-black-and-white-photo-of-money-in-a-glass-jar-28184340/
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Russian citizens or Russian companies participate in 11,939 companies in our country. This is clear from the answer of the Bulgarian Minister of Justice Maria Pavlova to a question posed by the parliamentarian Martin Dimitrov. He asked about the number of companies in Bulgaria in which Russians participate or Russian companies with a share of more than 40%.
The information provided by Minister Pavlova is based on the data in the Information System of the Trade Register and the Register of Non-Profit Legal Entities, “Focus” reported. The inspection concerns the participation of individuals or legal entities in limited liability companies, sole proprietorships and sole proprietorships.
7118 companies in our country are owned by Russian individuals or legal entities. 4,659 Russians participate with a share of over 40% in companies in Bulgaria. There are 162 companies in which a Russian citizen is registered as the actual owner.
The question of the national representative was provoked by the published statistics of the agency Moody’s that Bulgaria is in second place in the European Union in terms of companies with Russian connections.
Illustrative Photo by Kiril Gruev: https://www.pexels.com/photo/surva-festival-in-pernik-at-the-end-of-the-year-the-days-between-christmas-and-jordan-s-day-the-6th-of-january-yordanovden-are-called-dirty-days-it-is-the-coldest-and-darkest-time-15045130/
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Police in New Caledonia have arrested the leader of the country’s independence protest, Reuters reports. Christian Thane was detained before giving a press conference. Apart from Thane, seven other people have been arrested.
Thane led a branch of the Caledonian Union, which organized barricades in the capital Noumea that disrupted traffic, movement and food supplies. He was among the pro-independence political figures who met French President Emmanuel Macron during his visit to New Caledonia.
Nine people died, including two policemen, in the unrest that gripped New Caledonia last month after France proposed electoral reforms allowing thousands of French residents who have lived in the French Pacific territory for more than 10 years to vote.
Local Kanaks fear this will dilute the vote and make it more difficult to hold a future independence referendum. According to Paris, the measure is necessary to improve democracy.
Macron announced last week that he was suspending electoral reform. Pro-independence groups for New Caledonia want it to be fully withdrawn before dialogue on the island’s political future can begin again.
New Caledonia’s international airport reopened this week, although a curfew is still in place and several thousand French police reinforcements remain.
Illustrative Photo by Kindel Media: https://www.pexels.com/photo/a-person-s-hands-on-the-table-wearing-handcuffs-7773260/
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