On the final day of their stay in Oslo, on October 22, 2025, the delegation of the Ukrainian Council of Churches and Religious Organizations (UCCRO) met with Espen Barth Eide, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Norway. The meeting took place at the premises of the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The Ukrainian religious leaders expressed their gratitude to the Norwegian government for its continued support of Ukraine and Ukrainian refugees since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale military aggression. They also emphasized the threat posed by the chauvinistic ideology of the “Russian world,” which the Kremlin spreads, including through the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC), and called for the strengthening of Norway’s support for Ukraine at all levels.

Minister Espen Barth Eide noted that the Norwegian authorities are aware of how religious institutions in Russia are used as tools of influence abroad, as well as of the ROC’s role in its close cooperation with the Russian state. He underlined the ongoing political, defense, economic, and other areas of cooperation between Norway and Ukraine, noting that the Norwegian government has a long-term assistance plan for Ukraine that also includes support for civil society institutions.

During the meeting, the parties also discussed the possibility of providing assistance from the Norwegian government through Norwegian churches for joint humanitarian and social projects together with Ukrainian churches and religious organizations.

At the conclusion of the visit, the UCCRO delegation met with Kjersti Fløgstad, Executive Director of the Nobel Peace Center, who spoke about the work of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, led a guided tour of the center, and introduced the delegation to its activities.

The visit of the UCCRO delegation to Oslo, Norway, took place from October 19 to 22, 2025, with the support of the Christian Council of Norway and the Norwegian Bible Society. During the visit, the delegation met with Their Majesties the King and Queen of Norway, the Christian Council of Norway, the President and members of the Norwegian Parliament, and held several other meetings.

The UCCRO delegation to Norway included: Valerii Antoniuk, Head of the All-Ukrainian Union of Evangelical Christian-Baptists and head of the delegation; His Beatitude Sviatoslav Shevchuk, Major Archbishop of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church; Metropolitan Yevstratiy (Zoria) of Bila Tserkva, Orthodox Church of Ukraine; Bishop Vitaliy Kryvytskyi, Roman Catholic Church in Ukraine; Senior Bishop Anatoliy Kozachok, Ukrainian Pentecostal Church; Pastor Anatoliy Raychynets, Deputy General Secretary of the Ukrainian Bible Society; Oleksandr Zaiets, Chairman of the Institute for Religious Freedom; and Fr. Oleh Oleksa, Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church.