Russian Patriarch raises foreign policy hopes

A year after the death of Patriarch Alexy II, the politically influential head of the Russian Orthodox Church, the Estonian daily Postimees examines the foreign policy adopted by his successor Cyril I: "In the summer he set off on a visit to Ukraine and described Kiev as the second southern centre of the Russian Orthodox Church. And unlike the tone of the Russian leaders his tone was decidedly friendly. This may or may not be a coincidence but a couple of days ago a visit by the Patriarch to another country shunned by the Kremlin was put on the agenda: Georgia. The announcement of a visit may soothe the tensions between the two countries after diplomatic ties were broken following the war in the summer of 2008. Unlike the Kremlin, the Moscow Patriarchy never recognised the separation of the Orthodox Church in Abkhazia and South Ossetia from the Georgian Church, and even some politicians therefore have great expectations of Cyril in the area of foreign policy."

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