The Czech Republic has added the first person to its national sanctions list. According to Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavsky, the sanctions were imposed on Patriarch Kirill of Moscow (Vladimir Gundyaev) for supporting military aggression against Ukraine.
Source: idnes.cz
The head of the Russian Orthodox Church is currently banned from entering the Czech Republic. The sanctions also mean freezing of any assets and a ban on financial transactions in the country.
According to Lipavsky, Patriarch Kirill uses his position as head of the church to justify Russian aggression in his sermons and other public speeches.
The national list of sanctions appeared in the Czech Republic after the local "Magnitsky Law", named after the Russian lawyer who died in a detention center in 2009, came into force in January. This law allows the Czech government to impose sanctions on individuals and legal entities at the national level.
Patriarch Kirill is already on the sanctions lists of the United Kingdom, Canada, and Australia. He is also banned from entering Lithuania.
The European Commission proposed to impose restrictions against the head of the Russian Orthodox Church at the EU level, but this was not done: the decision was blocked by Hungary.