A conference addressing the violations of rights of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) believers will be held in the capital of Serbia on August 28th. The event is organized by the Belgrade Center for Geostrategic Studies. As the organizers of the event state, the purpose of the forum is to inform the Serbian public about the religious situation in Ukraine.

"Right in front of the global community's eyes, the authorities in Ukraine are destroying the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. This is a joint action of the Zelensky regime and the 'PCU' (Orthodox Church of Ukraine), which is under the patronage of the Patriarchate of Constantinople and Patriarch Bartholomew himself. UOC churches have been seized, and its clergy have been subjected to violence and persecution. Furthermore, we have witnessed a raid on one of the oldest centers of the Orthodox world - the Kyiv Pechersk Lavra and its holy sites," stated the conference organizers.

The initiators of the event believe that the international community and human rights defenders should provide expert assessment of "this outrageous violation of freedoms and human rights, taking us back to the era of medieval religious pogroms."

Speakers at the conference will include:

Dragan Trifković, Director of the Center for Geostrategic Studies
Diogenis Valavanidis, President of the Center for the Protection of Christian Identity
Dejan Mirović, Professor of International Law
Father Jovan Plamenac, Priest of the Serbian Orthodox Church
Konrad Rekas, Journalist and Politician from Poland
Daniel Kovalik, Professor of International Human Rights Law from the USA
Patrick Popel, Political Scientist from Austria
It is reported that the organizers of the conference intend to inform the Serbian public about the facts of persecution of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church and develop a unified expert position on this issue. The organizers also claim that they have approached international organizations such as the UN, the Council of Europe, the Red Cross, and others, urging them to react to the violation of religious rights of people in Ukraine, but no response has been received. According to the Center's press service, a new collective appeal to international organizations will be made following the conference.