On 22 June 2026, a delegation of the Ukrainian Council of Churches and Religious Organizations (UCCRO), during its visit to Brussels, Belgium, met with experts and representatives of the Commission of the Bishops’ Conferences of the European Union (COMECE) and the Conference of European Churches (CEC).
In the first half of the day, the UCCRO delegation participated in a roundtable discussion entitled “Faith in the Context of Enlargement: The Role of Religion in the EU Accession Process,” organized by the European Office of the Konrad Adenauer Foundation. Participants included representatives of COMECE, the CEC, and non-governmental organizations operating within EU institutions. They discussed the spiritual and humanitarian mission of religious communities during the Russian-Ukrainian war, as well as the role of churches in Ukraine’s ongoing European integration process.
Ukrainian religious leaders spoke about the heroism and resilience of Ukraine’s defenders and people, the state of freedom of religion in Ukraine, religious persecution in the territories of Ukraine occupied by the Russian Federation, and the aggressor state’s use of religion as a weapon in hybrid warfare, including against European Union countries. Members of the UCCRO delegation reaffirmed their support for the necessary reforms being implemented in Ukraine during wartime. They also called on European civil society representatives to engage more actively with European policymakers in support of continued political and defense assistance to Ukraine and to facilitate Ukraine’s accession to the European Union, taking into account the full range of circumstances, including the fact that no previous EU candidate country has faced conditions comparable to those currently confronting Ukraine.
In the afternoon, the UCCRO delegation met at the CEC headquarters with its Vice-President, Bishop Frank Kopania, and CEC General Secretary Pastor Frank Dieter Fischbach. During the meeting, Ukrainian religious leaders spoke about the situation of religious freedom in Ukraine, Russia’s crimes in the religious sphere, and measures taken by the Ukrainian state to protect freedom of religion from the external influence of the aggressor state. They also shared the experience of 30 years of interfaith dialogue and cooperation within the framework of the Ukrainian Council of Churches and Religious Organizations. To commemorate the meeting, the Ukrainian delegation presented the CEC Vice-President with a commemorative medal marking the 30th anniversary of UCCRO.
The meeting between the UCCRO delegation and the CEC leadership was also attended by Ambassador Vsevolod Chentsov, Permanent Representative of Ukraine to the European Union and the European Atomic Energy Community. He briefed participants on the current state of negotiations between Ukraine and the EU and answered questions concerning various aspects of the European integration process.
At the conclusion of the day’s program, the Ukrainian religious leaders offered prayers at the Chapel for Europe for an end to the war and for a just and lasting peace for Ukraine.
The UCCRO delegation to Brussels includes: UCCRO Chairman and Bishop of the Reformed Church in Transcarpathia Oleksandr Zan-Fabian; Primate of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine, Metropolitan Epiphaniy of Kyiv and All Ukraine; Ordinary of the Kyiv-Zhytomyr Diocese of the Roman Catholic Church in Ukraine, Bishop Vitaliy Kryvytskyi; Head of the Department for External Relations of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church in Ukraine, Mitred Archpriest Oleksa Petriv; Senior Bishop of the Ukrainian Pentecostal Church Anatoliy Kozachok; Bishop of the German Evangelical Lutheran Church of Ukraine Pavlo Shvarts; Deputy Head of the Department for External Church Relations of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine, Metropolitan Yevstratiy; and Chairman of the Board of the Institute for Religious Freedom, Oleksandr Zaiets.
The visit of the UCCRO delegation to Brussels is taking place with the support of the Konrad Adenauer Foundation’s Office in Ukraine.