On September 23, 2025, Archbishop Markell of Balti and Falesti delivered a speech during the 60th regular session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva. The speaker touched upon the problem of relations between the Orthodox Church of Moldova and the authorities of the country.
"We are extremely concerned about the position of the Moldovan authorities in relation to our denomination. Most recently, Moldovan President Maia Sandu unfairly called our Church an "instrument of influence of the Russian Federation," Archbishop Markell said.
In addition, believers are searched for an extremely long time when crossing the border, and some are actually blocked from leaving the country, violating the right to freedom of movement, the bishop emphasized: "I was not allowed to leave Moldova three times without any grounds."
According to Archbishop Markell, there are already cases of violent attempts in Moldova to transfer parishes of the Orthodox Church of Moldova to another religious jurisdiction. There is a lawsuit about the seizure of more than 800 buildings of monasteries and temples from the Church.
Russian Russian Orthodox Church religious organizations operate openly in all EU countries, where Moldova aspires, and no one restricts the rights of believers for organizational and canonical ties with the Russian Orthodox Church. I ask the UN mandate holders to consider the situation of the faithful of the Orthodox Church of Moldova in the framework of our complaints to the UN special procedures, as well as to ensure international diplomatic attention to the problems I have outlined in order to change Moldova's policy towards our Church in accordance with international human rights standards," concluded the representative of the Orthodox Church of Moldova.
Archbishop Markell's speech took place in the presence of members of the UN Human Rights Council, as well as delegations of UN member states and representatives of international organizations.