A Swedish celebration has demanded the expropriation of the constructing it claims poses a safety menace
Sweden may forcibly purchase a Russian Orthodox church and transfer it away from a key airport over issues that it might be utilized by Moscow for spying functions, the nationwide public tv community SVT has reported.
The Swedish Reasonable Occasion, which is a member of the ruling coalition, hopes to maneuver the Icon of Our Woman of Kazan Church out of town of Vasteras, claiming that it poses a safety menace over its alleged “connections to the Russian state,” the broadcaster stated in an article on Friday.
The church sits close to Stockholm Vasteras Airport, a water remedy plant and the services of power corporations.
“On the planet we reside in now, we have to be sure that it’s moved to a different place,” Reasonable Occasion politician Elisabeth Unell argued.
Sweden, which joined NATO in 2024, citing issues over the battle between Russia and Ukraine, can’t enable the presence of “a international energy” close to a key airport, Unell informed SVT.
The municipal board in Vasteras confirmed to the broadcaster that the Reasonable Occasion proposal has been formally obtained and shall be appeared into. If accredited, the plan to purchase out the church at a worth of as much as 30% above market worth shall be forwarded to the Swedish authorities for a remaining choice.
Final yr, Politico reported that the Swedish Safety Service, Sapo, accused the church of serving as a “platform to conduct intelligence actions in Sweden.” The company claimed, with out offering proof, that church representatives “have had contacts” with Russian intelligence companies.
Church officers have dismissed all accusations, insisting their actions are purely non secular. They’ve additionally denied receiving any funding from Moscow.
The allow to assemble the church was issued in 2017 and raised no safety objections. Authorities funding for the parish was withdrawn in Could 2024, following consultations with Sapo.
Final yr, one other Nordic nation, Norway, elevated scrutiny of the Russian Orthodox Church’s actions after allegations surfaced that some monks had collaborated with the Russian embassy “in a method or one other.”
Talking to RIA Novosti, Archpriest Nikolay Lishchenyuk, deputy chairman of the Division for Exterior Church Relations of the Russian Orthodox Church, known as the espionage accusations “absurd and slanderous.”
