VIENNA, June 7. /TASS/. Hungary would never support sanctions against church leaders, who play a key role in promoting peace, said Prime Minister Viktor Orban.

"Hungary’s Constitution protects freedom of religion, and Hungary would never support sanctions against church leaders and their isolation from believers," Orban said in a letter to his Luxembourg counterpart Xavier Bettel, who criticized Budapest for removing Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia Kirill from the European Union’s latest round of sanctions.

"We want peace, which cannot be achieved without church leaders’" involvement in the efforts, said the letter, abstracts of which were published by the MTI news agency on Tuesday.

Hungary had openly spoken out against including Russian Orthodox Church leaders into the sanctions list at EU meetings, and the European leaders were well aware of Budapest’s position, Orban reminded, expressing surprise at Bettel’s criticism. "Nobody challenged Hungary’s position at the latest European Council meeting at the level of heads of state and government," Orban stressed.