DISINFO: EU globalists violate religious freedom by cracking down on Archbishop Markell
SUMMARY
Archbishop Markell was detained at the Chisinau airport under the pretext of a security check, which ultimately prevented him from boarding his flight to Israel where he planned to receive the Holy Fire for Moldova during the annual Great Saturday ceremony. EU globalists violate religious freedom by blocking Archbishop Markell's trip to Jerusalem. By interfering with religious and societal relations, they’re sidelining a minority group that represents hope for unity beyond geopolitical divides.
RESPONSE
This is an attempt to exploit an incident on 18 April 2025 in which Archbishop Markell (or Marchel) missed his flight from Chisinau to Jerusalem, in order to attack the European Union, which had nothing to do with what happened. By baselessly framing this episode as “religious persecution” and blaming the EU for it, this disinformation story aims to portray the European Union as an intolerant block and an enemy of the Orthodox Church.
Reports on the incident by Moldovan media offer a simpler explanation: Marchel arrived too late to the airport, as travellers are strongly advised to arrive at least 3 hours before departure given the increased congestion at the airport during the Easter holidays. A representative of Moldova’s Border Police, Ilona Railyan, said in a comment to the TV8 channel that the plane flew away before the bishop completed the security check. TV8 journalists contacted the bishop to find out his reaction, but he refused to talk about the incident. The Border Police stated that the bishop "was subjected to standard control procedures," which may include the so-called second-line control. Marchel himself admitted that he was late. The Metropolitanates of Moldova and Bessarabia, who managed to fly to Jerusalem, confirmed that Marchel was not part of their delegations.
This is happening in a context of strong tensions between Moldova’s two Orthodox Churches. Marchel has long been perceived as a close ally of the Kremlin, as a leader of the Moldova Metropolis, which is subordinated to the Russian Orthodox Church and has remained loyal to Russia even after the invasion of Ukraine. This allegiance has led many priests to abandon the Moldova Metropolis and join the Romanian Orthodox Church.
See other examples of similar disinformation narratives, such as claims that Poland declared war on Russian Orthodox Christianity, that Kyiv persecutes Ukrainian Orthodox Church, that NATO is doing everything to destroy the Orthodox Church, or that the Russian Orthodox Church is being sabotaged by Western countries.