Russia has found a loophole to protect its assets in Czechia—by transferring ownership of Karlovy Vary’s Church of Saints Peter and Paul to its Hungarian branch. With sanctions tightening against Russian institutions, the Russian Orthodox Church wasted no time shifting its holdings out of reach.
Karlovy Vary, a charming Czech spa town, has long hosted a sizeable Russian community, though numbers have dwindled, especially after Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine. In response to the war, Czechia enacted the Sanctions Act in 2023, allowing authorities to freeze assets tied to individuals and entities violating Czech or international law.
The government has already sanctioned Patriarch Kirill, the Russian Orthodox Church’s leader, citing his explicit support for the war. Not only is he barred from entering the country, but any assets linked to him have been frozen. Czech authorities also seized Russian state-owned properties, fueling concerns that the Church of Saints Peter and Paul—Czechia’s largest Orthodox church—would be next on the list.
Rather than risk losing control, the Russian Orthodox Church swiftly reassigned ownership of all its Czech holdings to its Hungarian branch, effectively putting them under the jurisdiction of the Metropolitan Emeritus of Budapest and Hungary.
This move didn’t come out of nowhere. Just last year, Karlovy Vary expelled one of the church’s priests, Nikolai Lishchenyuk, over allegations of espionage and ties to Eurosceptic movements. Czech officials stripped him of honorary citizenship, further straining relations.
Not everyone is pleased with how events unfolded. Some Czech officials lament that the government didn’t act faster to freeze the assets before the transfer. Meanwhile, Russian Orthodox churches across Europe remain under scrutiny, particularly in Ukraine, where the government has seized church properties and clashed with clergy over their refusal to switch Christmas celebrations to the Gregorian calendar.
Russia’s strategic asset shift to Hungary is just another chapter in its ongoing game of political chess—one that keeps European governments on edge.
