site.btaFour MPs Submit Alert to Acting Prosecutor General for Check into Russian Church's Ownership

Four MPs have submitted an alert to Acting Prosecutor General Borislav Sarafov for a check into the ownership of the Russian Church in Sofia, Parliament's press centre said Wednesday. Boyko Borissov of GERB, Kiril Petkov and Ivaylo Mirchev of Continue the Change-Democratic Bulgaria, and Delyan Peevski of the Movement for Rights and Freedoms ask the prosecution service to gather all relevant facts and necessary documents to determine beyond doubt who owns the land and building of the Church of St. Nicholas of Myra in downtown Sofia.

The MPs argue that the check is needed in view of the problem with the Russian Church's ownership and use being extremely important for society and the possibility of a crime having been committed (with documents or other) in relation to the legitimization of the Russian Embassy in Bulgaria as the church's owner.

The issue with the Russian Church in Sofia arose after the expulsion on September 21 of the rector of the Podvorye of the Russian Orthodox Church in Sofia, Archimandrite Vassian, and two ministers of the Church of St. Nicholas of Myra for what the State Agency for National Security described as activities against Bulgaria's national security and interest. The church was closed, triggering a protest by citizens demanding that it be reopened and a controversy over who owns the church.