PHOTO: One of many burned UOC Churches in Ukraine last year – a clear indication that some not-so-secret powers attempt to use religion to trigger major military conflict…

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As Pat. Bartholomew prepares to visit Ukraine this coming August the clouds of an approaching war are gathering over Ukraine.  The trigger is very likely to be the Autocephaly granted to the 25% of the Orthodox faithful by the Constantinople Patriarchate, which has caused many episodes of violence all over the country for the past two years. (Greek Translation and supporting news below)

By Nick Stamatakis

Helleniscope’s readers know my keen interest in the news regarding Ukrainian Orthodoxy and particularly the Autocephaly issue that caused a Schism in World Orthodoxy.  Moscow Patriarch Kirill and Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople have already exchanged several letters and offered a multitude of public statements attacking each other’s positions.  At the same time, there is a 6-year stalemate after the 2015 Minsk Agreements on how to apply relative autonomy to the Donbas region (mostly Russophone Eastern Ukraine – notably inhabited by some of our fellow Greeks, some in very ancient, almost 3,000 yr. old communities…)

My interest in Ukraine predates the issue of Autocephaly and started with reading the “Clash of Civilizations” by Samuel Huntington (1996), a truly prophetic book, on page 37 of which the events we all witnessed since 2014 in Ukraine are described in great detail. In the last 20 years, this book has become the bible of “deep state” circles and is guiding major decisions in the State Dept. and the CIA.  I have said many times that in this particular case “deep state” is acting in accordance (should we say completely “choreographed” coordination?) with the financial “movers and shakers” of Wall Street.  If we put aside elaborate geopolitical analyses, the human motives and instincts are always simple, namely “greed”, pure unadulterated greed. Russia, including Siberia and the Arctic, contains the last unexplored, massive treasure trove of the planet.  Every imaginable mineral (from gold and uranium to rare earth minerals and hydrocarbons) is there for the taking in huge amounts.

Why then not make a deal with Russia to explore it, you may ask… First, because they do not want “deals” with Putin – they want it “for free”: Putin offered deals (like the one to Rex Tillerson of Exxon Mobil for Arctic exploration) but the “deep state” thwarted it and forced ExxonMobil to back off taking a loss after they had installed a huge platform in the Arctic Sea…  They (the “deep state” and their allies in the financial world) had it all planned out when they banked on drunkard Boris Yeltsin – but Putin spoiled their plans…  Secondly, they understand that along with taking over Russia comes complete domination and control of the whole planet and the whole humanity…

In this context, recent news (we list 4 important pieces below) shows that we are fast approaching the threshold where the Ukraine conflict becomes a war:

• A large force of American helicopters are now stationed in Alexandroupolis in Greece and exercise constantly aiming north, towards Bulgaria and Romania, obviously preparing to intervene in a possible conflict in Ukraine.
• The stalemate regarding Donbas (Eastern Ukraine) continues, while this Russian-speaking region is now de facto autonomous and, as the first step in any military conflict, will be annexed to Russia.
• The religious conflict within Ukraine’s Orthodoxy has intensified. After two years of bloody conflict between the two major Orthodox factions, where the recently “autocephalous” 25% attacked and stole churches from the 65% UOC (Moscow Patriarchate), recently Poroshenko initiated a bill to liquidate religious organizations.  Which one? You guessed it: he proposed to take over properties of the majority church and even force a name change for this church!
• So far Metropolitan Onufriy (UOC – Moscow Patriarchate) has handled the whole situation with admirable dignity, self-control, and in a very pacifist manner. As we are informed (below), recently this train of thought has started to change as the attacks on the UOC churches are expanding and become all the more violent.

This short note does not pretend to be a full analysis of the geopolitics of Ukraine. But it can serve as a warning to those (Karloutsos and Bartholomew) who put politics over Orthodoxy and already have blood in their hands.  Should I remind everyone that the First World War was triggered by the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria by the Bosnian Serb nationalist Gavrilo Princip, who had been supported by a nationalist organization in Serbia? It takes just a small but sensitive “side issue” for a major war to happen when the rest of the conditions are ripe…

Do Pat. Bartholomew and Karloutsos want the future historian to write that they provided the trigger for a major war with Russia that could probably lead to the loss of millions of lives and may even go a step further and cause a World War III?

February 25, 2021, n.stamatakis@aol.com   www.helleniscope.com

BELOW THE GREEK VERSION OF THIS ARTICLE

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Θα πυροδοτήσει η Ουκρανική Αυτοκεφαλία πόλεμο με τη Ρωσία;

Καθώς ο Πατριάρχης Βαρθολομαίος ετοιμάζεται να επισκεφθεί την Ουκρανία τον ερχόμενο Αύγουστο, τα σύννεφα του προσεγγίζοντος πολέμου μαζεύονται πάνω από την Ουκρανία. Η αφορμή είναι πολύ πιθανό να είναι η Αυτοκεφαλία που παραχωρείται στο 25% των Ορθόδοξων πιστών της χώρας από το Πατριαρχείο Κωνσταντινούπολεως, εξαιτίας της οποίας έχουν προκληθεί πολλά επεισόδια βίας σε όλη τη χώρα τα τελευταία δύο χρόνια.

Του Νίκου Σταματάκη

Οι αναγνώστες του Helleniscope γνωρίζουν το έντονο ενδιαφέρον μου για τις ειδήσεις σχετικά με την Ορθοδοξία στην Ουκρανία και ιδιαίτερα για το ζήτημα της Αυτοκεφαλίας που προκάλεσε Σχίσμα στην παγκόσμια Ορθοδοξία. Ο Πατριάρχης της Μόσχας Κύριλλος και ο Πατριάρχης Βαρθολομαίος της Κωνσταντινούπολεως έχουν ήδη ανταλλάξει αρκετές επιστολές και έχουν προβεί σε πολλές δημόσιες δηλώσεις όπου επιτίθενται ο ένας στις θέσεις του άλλου. Ταυτόχρονα, υπάρχει ένα εξαετές αδιέξοδο μετά τις Συμφωνίες του Μινσκ του 2015 σχετικά με τον τρόπο εφαρμογής της σχετικής αυτονομίας στην περιοχή του Ντόνμπας (στην κυρίως Ρωσόφωνη Ανατολική Ουκρανία – περιοχή που σημειωτέον κατοικήθηκε από ς Έλληνες για τρεις χιλιετίες και όπου ακόμα επιβιώνουν ιστορικές ελληνικές κοινότητες…)

Το ενδιαφέρον μου για την Ουκρανία προηγείται χρονολογικά του θέματος της Αυτοκεφαλίας και ξεκίνησε με την ανάγνωση του “Clash of Civilizations” του Samuel Huntington (1996), ενός πραγματικά προφητικού βιβλίου, στη σελίδα 37 του οποίου περιγράφονται με μεγάλη λεπτομέρεια τα γεγονότα που όλοι παρακολουθήσαμε από το 2014 στην Ουκρανία. Τα τελευταία 20 χρόνια, αυτό το βιβλίο έχει γίνει η Βίβλος κύκλων του «βαθέος κράτους» και σηματοδοτεί σημαντικές αποφάσεις στο Στέιτ Ντιπάρτμεντ και τη CIA. Έχω πει πολλές φορές ότι στη συγκεκριμένη περίπτωση το “βαθύ κράτος” ενεργεί σε απόλυτη συμφωνία (θα έλεγα σαν να ακολουθούν “χορογραφημένο” συντονισμό) με τους κορυφαίους οικονομικούς (πλουτοκρατικούς) παράγοντες της Wall Street. Εάν αφήσουμε προς στιγμήν στην άκρη περίτεχνες γεωπολιτικές αναλύσεις, τα ανθρώπινα κίνητρα και τα ένστικτα είναι πάντα απλά, στην περίπτωσή μας «απληστία», καθαρή και γνήσια απληστία. Η Ρωσία, συμπεριλαμβανομένης της Σιβηρίας και της Αρκτικής, περιέχει τον τελευταίο ανεξερεύνητο, τεράστιο θησαυρό του πλανήτη. Κάθε ορυκτό που μπορεί να φανταστεί κανείς (από χρυσό και ουράνιο έως σπάνιες γαίες και υδρογονάνθρακες) υπάρχει εκεί σε μυθικές ποσότητες.

Γιατί λοιπόν δεν κάνουν οι πλουτοκράτες και οι στρατοκράτες των ΗΠΑ μια συμφωνία με τη Ρωσία για να εξορύξουν τον πλούτο αυτό, θα ρωτήσετε… Πρώτον, επειδή δεν θέλουν “συμφωνίες” με τον Πούτιν – το θέλουν “δωρεάν”: Ο Πούτιν προσέφερε συμφωνίες εξόρυξης (όπως αυτή που είχε ο Rex Tillerson της Exxon Mobil για εξερεύνηση της Αρκτικής) αλλά το «βαθύ κράτος» την παρεμπόδισε και ανάγκασε την ExxonMobil να αποσυρθεί, αφού είχε εγκαταστήσει μια τεράστια πλατφόρμα στην Αρκτική Θάλασσα … Αυτοί (το «βαθύ κράτος» και οι πλουτοκράτες) τα είχαν στοιχηματίσει όλα στον μεθύστακα Μπόρις Γέλτσιν – αλλά ο Πούτιν χάλασε τα σχέδιά τους… Δεύτερον, όλοι αυτοί κατανοούν ότι μαζί με τον έλεγχο της Ρωσίας θα έλθει πλήρης κυριαρχία και έλεγχος ολόκληρου του πλανήτη και ολόκληρης της ανθρωπότητας …

Σε αυτό το πλαίσιο, οι πρόσφατες ειδήσεις (παραθέτουμε 4 σημαντικά κομμάτια παρακάτω) δείχνουν ότι πλησιάζουμε γρήγορα στο κατώφλι όπου η σύγκρουση στην Ουκρανία θα γίνει πόλεμος:

1. Μια μεγάλη δύναμη αμερικανικών ελικοπτέρων βρίσκεται τώρα στην Αλεξανδρούπολη της Ελλάδας και ασκεί συνεχώς στο Βορρά, προς τη Βουλγαρία και τη Ρουμανία, και προφανώς ετοιμάζεται να παρέμβει σε μια πιθανή σύγκρουση στην Ουκρανία.
2. Το αδιέξοδο σχετικά με το Donbas (Ανατολική Ουκρανία) συνεχίζεται, ενώ αυτή η ρωσόφωνη περιοχή είναι τώρα de facto αυτόνομη και, ως το πρώτο βήμα σε οποιαδήποτε στρατιωτική σύγκρουση, θα προσαρτηθεί στη Ρωσία.
3. Η θρησκευτική σύγκρουση εντός της Ορθοδοξίας της Ουκρανίας έχει ενταθεί. Μετά από δύο χρόνια αιματηρής σύγκρουσης μεταξύ των δύο μεγάλων Ορθόδοξων φατριών, όπου το πρόσφατα «αυτοκέφαλο» 25% επιτέθηκε και έκλεψε εκκλησίες από το 65% UOC (Πατριαρχείο Μόσχας), πριν λίγο ο Ποροσένκο κατέθεσε νομοσχέδιο για την εκκαθάριση θρησκευτικών οργανώσεων. Ποιά ακριβώς θρησκευτική οργάνωση στοχεύει; Το μαντέψατε: στοχεύθει τις ιδιοκτησίες της πλειοψηφικής εκκλησίας (UOC) και epixeire;i ακόμη και να αναγκάσει την αλλαγή ονόματος για αυτήν την εκκλησία!
4. Μέχρι στιγμής ο Μητροπολίτης Ονούφριος (UOC – Πατριαρχείο Μόσχας) χειρίστηκε όλη την κατάσταση με αξιοθαύμαστη αξιοπρέπεια, αυτοέλεγχο και με πολύ ειρηνικό τρόπο. Όπως έχουμε ενημερωθεί (παρακάτω), πρόσφατα αυτός ο τρόπος σκέψης και δράσης άρχισε να αλλάζει καθώς οι επιθέσεις εναντίον των εκκλησιών της UOC επεκτείνονται και γίνονται όλο και πιο βίαιες.

Αυτό το σύντομο σημείωμα δεν προσποιείται ότι αποτελεί πλήρη ανάλυση της γεωπολιτικής της Ουκρανίας. Αλλά μπορεί να χρησιμεύσει ως προειδοποίηση για εκείνους (Καρλούτσος και Πατ. Βαρθολομαίος) που βάζουν την πολιτική πάνω από την Ορθοδοξία και έχουν τα χέρια τους έχουν ήδη βαφτεί με αίμα (είχαν άλλωστε σαφώς προειδοποιηθεί για την βίαιαη κατάληξη των αποφάσεών τους) . Θα ήταν χρήσιμο να υπενθυμίσω ότι ο Πρώτος Παγκόσμιος Πόλεμος πυροδοτήθηκε από τη δολοφονία του Αρχιδούκα Φερδινάνδου της Αυστρίας από τον Σερβοβόσνιο εθνικιστή Γαβρίλο Πρίνσιπε, ο οποίος είχε υποστηριχθεί από μια εθνικιστική οργάνωση στη Σερβία… Είναι φανερό ότι ένα μικρό αλλά ευαίσθητο «δευτερεύον ζήτημα» είναι αρκετό για να ανάψει την σπίθα ενός μεγάλου πολέμου όταν οι υπόλοιπες συνθήκες είναι ώριμες …

Αραγε θα ήθελαν ο Πατ. Βαρθολομαίος και ο Καρλούτσος να γράψουν οι ιστορικοί του μέλλοντος ότι ήταν εκείνοι που προσέφεραν την αφορμή για έναν μεγάλο πόλεμο εναντίον της ομόθρησκης Ρωσίας που θα μπορούσε πιθανώς να οδηγήσει σε απώλεια εκατομμυρίων ζωών και θα μπορούσε υπό ορισμένες πορϋποθέσεις ακόμη και να επφέρει τον Γ’ Παγκόσμιο Πόλεμο;

25 Φεβρουαρίου 2021, n.stamatakis@aol.com www.helleniscope.com

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SOURCE: SPZH.NEWS

Poroshenko initiates a bill to liquidate religious organizations

UOC spokesman: Believers are ready to take to streets to defend the Church

 

The UOC is holding back parishioners from mass street protests, but people are determined to take a decisive action to protect their Church, Father Nikolai said.

Archpriest Nikolai Danilevich, Deputy Head of the Department for External Church Relations of the UOC, said in the Right to Faith program on the First Cossack youtube channel that parishioners are ready to take to the streets en masse to protest against the pressure of the authorities on the Church, but so far these impulses are being held back in parishes.

“We will defend our rights by all legal means. If the authorities stop their ears, we will take to the streets, a lot of people are ready to go out, if there is no progress from the state,” said the spokesman of the UOC. “People want it themselves; we even restrain them to some extent.”

He noted that now the standard rules of interaction are flouted, and the reaction to this may be unpredictable. But there is hope for a peaceful solution to the problems if parishioners show their social and public position while protecting their Church. “If we were just a few, this would be one thing, but there are plenty of us, and we must use this multitude to defend our Church. Don’t sit and wait for someone else to do it. The fate of our Church now depends on each of us,” Father Nikolai summed up.

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SOURCE: WASHINGTONTIMES.COM

Russia clashes with US and West over conflict in Ukraine

By EDITH M. LEDERER – Associated Press – Thursday, February 11, 2021

UNITED NATIONS (AP) – Russia clashed with the United States and its Western allies Thursday over the nearly seven-year conflict in eastern Ukraine, and the U.N. warned that the current fragile cease-fire risks being reversed if peace negotiations become deadlocked.

Russia called the Security Council meeting to mark Friday’s sixth anniversary of the signing of the Minsk peace plan brokered by France and Germany. It aimed to resolve the conflict between Ukraine and Russia-backed separatists that flared in April 2014 after Russia’s annexation of Crimea and its support for the separatists in the mostly Russian-speaking industrial east called Donbas.

Russia’s U.N. Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia accused Ukraine of failing to implement the 2015 Minsk agreement saying: “Over those six years, we still haven’t gotten an answer to two very important questions: How exactly does Ukraine intend to peacefully resolve the conflict, and how does Kiev envisage special status of Donbas within Ukraine?”

“The answers to those questions will entirely determine any prospects for a settlement because after the beginning in 2014 of Kiev’s use of force and the ongoing shellings of residential areas by the Ukrainian army, which continue to this day, the people of Donbass have not felt any connection with Ukraine,” he said.

The United States and European allies France, Germany, Estonia, Ireland, Norway, Belgium and the United Kingdom blamed Russia for fueling the conflict, which has killed more than 14,000 people, by providing financial and military support to the separatists.T

U.S. political coordinator Rodney Hunter, speaking on behalf of the Biden administration, said Russia instigated the conflict in Donbass and “has blocked meaningful progress in diplomatic negotiations while arming, training, funding, and leading its proxy forces and supporting the self-proclaimed `authorities’ on the ground.”

“The United States reaffirms its unwavering commitment to Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity,” he said, accusing Russia of escalating “its oppression of any dissent to its brutal occupation of Crimea.”

“We will never recognize Russia’s attempted annexation of Crimea,” Hunter said. “As a result, U.S. sanctions on Russia in response to its aggression in eastern Ukraine and occupation of Crimea will remain in place unless — and until — Russia reverses course.”

The Minsk agreements envisage that Ukraine can regain control over its border with Russia in the separatist-held regions only after they are granted broad self-rule and hold local elections.

The accord helped reduce the scope of hostilities, but Ukrainian forces continued to exchange artillery salvos and gunfire.

While the July 2020 cease-fire “has largely held up,” U.N. political chief Rosemary DiCarlo said there has been an increase in security incidents in several hotspots in recent months.

“This dangerous trend needs to be quickly reversed,” she said.

The cease-fire deal was reached by members of the Tripartite Contact Group that includes representatives of Russia, Ukraine and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe known as the OSCE. It followed a meeting in Paris in December 2019 of the leaders of Ukraine, Russia, France and Germany — the so-called Normandy group — who expressed support for the Minsk deal and agreed to revive the peace process.

DiCarlo told the council that continuing discussions in these groups are “no reason for complacency” and no substitute “for meaningful progress.”

“The risk of backsliding is real if negotiations become deadlocked,” she warned.

Russia’s Nebenzia said the Minsk agreement didn’t say anything about direct dialogue with the two separatist governments of Donetsk and Luhansk in Donbass, or about agreeing on any special status for the region.

“Instead of that, fantasies about establishing some sort of international administration and holding elections only two years after that are in the document,” he said. “Do you really think the people of Donbas will really agree to this international form of occupation?”

In response, a statement from the seven European countries strongly condemned “the continued destabilization of certain areas of Donetsk and Luhansk regions” and again called on Russia “to immediately stop fueling the conflict“ by supporting the separatists.

Germany’s U.N. Ambassador Christoph Heusgen went further, telling the Security Council how Russia violated key paragraphs in the Minsk agreements — including the initial 2015 cease-fire, failing to withdraw heavy weapons and foreign forces, and blocking free access for OSCE monitors to observe areas of the Russian-Ukrainian border not controlled by the Ukrainian government.

“Until today, there are Russian forces in eastern Ukraine,” Heusgen said. “They may not have the official stamp of the Russian army, but the Russians continue to be there, and without Russia, Luhansk and Donetsk could not survive.”

Halit Cevik, chief monitor of the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine, saw “a window of opportunity for the sides to find a way towards lasting de-escalation, but we also see that it is narrowing.”

Cevik said the July 2020 cease-fire led to “the longest-lasting reduction in violence” since the mission began recording cease-fire violations. But he said, “adherence has frayed over time.”

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SOURCE: GREEKCITYTIMES.COM

“30 American helicopters at Alexandroupolis is a bad development”: Retired Turkish brigadier general

Retired Brigadier General and professor at the private Istanbul Aydın University, Naim Babüroğlu, demands a Turkish reaction to the arrival of 30 American Black Hawk and Apache helicopters to Demokritos airport in Alexandroupolis.

The selection of Alexandroupolis as the base for the American helicopters, which will take part in the upcoming allied “Defender Europe 2021” exercise, continues to provoke reactions in Turkey.

In an article entitled “What does it mean for the USA to position its attack helicopters in Alexandroupoli?” on Sputnik Türkiye, Babüroğlu commented on the US presence at the Alexandroupolis base and tensions between Turkey and Greece.

“That exercise was something that happened for the first time in NATO history,” the Babüroğlu explained.

“When the tension in the Eastern Mediterranean escalated between two NATO member countries, the US, which is the most powerful member of NATO and an ally of Turkey, is exercising with Greece, it means that ‘We in this tension are next to Greece’,” he said.

“Turkey had to denounce this strongly. There is always talk of postponing exercises,” the professor suggested.

“That fact, from the point of view of the US relations with Turkey and Greece, was even more important than the creation of the base,” Babüroğlu continued.

“The US deployment of 30 attack helicopters in Alexandroupolis is not a development that will be visible only on a regular level, but at the same time will have strategic consequences,” he said, adding “In view of this, Turkey must take the necessary measures.”

Following his statements, he commented that the Alexandroupolis area should be demilitarized, in accordance with the Lausanne Peace Treaty, and that all these events testify to the coldness between Turkey and the US.

“There should be no army in Alexandroupolis. According to the Lausanne peace treaty, the areas 30 km from the border are demilitarized,” he said.

“According to some experts, Alexandroupolis is 30km from the border and within the area where there should be no army. This situation is an important sign of the coldness between the US and Turkey,” he concluded worryingly.