Overview

• Estonian parliament approved a law banning religious communities from maintaining ties to foreign organizations deemed a threat to sovereignty.
• Authorities accuse the Pühtitsa Convent in Kuremäe of spreading Kremlin propaganda and potentially hosting Russian spies.
• Abbess Filareta Kalatšova maintains the nunnery is apolitical and only focused on worship while preserving its link to the Moscow Patriarchate.
• The government denies any infringement on religious freedom and says convents can operate without special status if they continue ties to the Moscow Patriarchate.
• The dispute underscores growing friction between Estonia and Russia as NATO bolsters its eastern flank during the war in Ukraine.