“In this instance, the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry has nothing to do with this (ban),” Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesman Yevgeny Perebyinis said at a briefing.
Yevgeny Perebyinis, Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesman
He declined to comment on this decision, saying these issues were outside the ministry’s remit. “The right to let someone in or not belongs to the border service which operates on the basis of relevant requests, if any, from the Ukrainian law enforcement authorities,” Perebyinis said.
On May 9, while passing border control in Dniepropetrovsk the Metropolitan Hilarion was denied entry to Ukraine without any explanation. The Russian Foreign Ministry called such a decision of the Ukrainian authorities “an unprecedented provocative case” and demanded “exhaustive explanations of such a disrespectful treatment of the high-ranking clergyman, and relevant apologies.”
