Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the potential implications for his policies of reports of disputes involving religious communities in the Bukovina region of Ukraine; and what steps he is taking to support freedom of religion or belief in the area.

We are deeply disturbed by the impact of Russia's illegal war on Freedom of Religion or Belief (FoRB) in Ukraine. Ukraine's democracy is well known for its commitment to religious pluralism. The UK regularly engages with Ukrainian religious groups and the Government of Ukraine on this issue, including on Law 8371 which mandates that religious organisations must cut ties with the Russian Orthodox Church - Moscow Patriarchate. The Ukrainian Government and religious leaders have offered reassurances that the law responds to clear national security threats. In February, a delegation of the All-Ukrainian Council of Churches met Parliamentarians and Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office officials to discuss religious persecution in the temporarily occupied territories, and Law 8371.