MOSCOW, July 2. /TASS/. Eugeniusz Czykwin of Poland has been elected President of the Interparliamentary Assembly of Orthodoxy (IAO) to replace Sergey Gavrilov of Russia, a source in the IAO told TASS on Sunday, adding that delegations from Russia, Belarus, and Syria were not allowed to take part in the meeting of the IAO General Assembly.

"Delegations from Russia, Belarus, and Syria were not allowed to take part in the session of the IAO General Assembly chaired by the Greek side under the pressure from Ukraine, which was supported by American diplomats and loyal media. Eugeniusz Czykwin, a member of the Polish parliament, was elected IAO President," the source said.

According to the source, Ukraine demanded that Sergey Gavrilov, a member of the Russian State Duma (lower parliament house) be removed from the post of the IAO President he has been holding since 2018 and that Russians be ousted from the assembly’s governing bodies.

"These demands were repeated in the local mass media, including those close to the Constantinople Patriarchate. Thus, the Orthodox Times joined the anti-Russian position having condemned ‘Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.’ It said that Russians should not be represented in governing bodies of a European organization. The Russian Orthodox Church and Patriarch Kirill, as well as Russian President Vladimir Putin were subject of severe criticism," the source said.

The source noted however that although provisions about Russia’s "invasion of Ukraine" were included into the IAO General Assembly’s final declaration, its members avoided criticism of Russia and its president in their speeches. In general, the session demonstrated the inability of European parliaments to defend their national interests and independence, including in the religious sphere, the source added.

"It is highly probably that following such developments, the IAO will no longer be interesting for lawmakers, since it will lose possibilities for partner relations with the leading Orthodox countries - Russia and Belarus <…> entailing the weakening of historical ties between nations," he said.

The 30th session of the IAO General Assembly was held from June 29 through July 2. Headquartered in Athens, the Assembly unites Orthodox lawmakers from 20 countries, mostly European.