Let there be a square?

The mayor of Yekaterinburg suspended the construction of the temple on the site of the square to hear the opinion of the townspeople. This will be done using a survey, not a referendum, the conduct of which was considered too costly and long. The Russian Orthodox Church about the protests lasting from May 13 recall the execution of the royal family.

“If we [choose] a referendum is a year of a suspended situation, this is more than serious preparation, more than serious costs, a fairly large process,” explained the head of the city Alexander Vysokinsky. For the first time in four days, he visited the place where the protesters went. Those met the mayor with shouts "Shame!" And whistle. Before that, he claimed that during the survey they would not stop the construction. Governor Yevgeny Kuyvashev began negotiations with the dissatisfied public the day after the start of the processes - already on May 14.

Alexander Vysokinsky / E1.ru

Now the deputies will choose the most legitimate form of the survey, based on Federal Law No. 131 “On the General Principles of the Organization of Local Self -Government in the Russian Federation”. Moreover, the authorities are currently working with professional sociologists.

On the eve of such a way out of a controversial situation, Vladimir Putinproposed . “There is a simple way: to conduct a survey, and the minority should submit to the majority. This is the principle of democracy. Of course, you need to take into account both the opinion and the interests of this minority, ”said the Russian leader. At the same time, he added that if the construction of the temple involves cutting down trees, then investors or local authorities should restore plants in the place necessary for residents.

Later, the press secretary of the head of state Dmitry Peskov specified that the president’s words about the survey are not interference in the affairs of the city. “The local authorities in Yekaterinburg were dialogue with the residents of Yekaterinburg before the president’s statement, the president formulated more clearly and in this case they listened to the opinion of the head of state. But to talk about the inefficiency of the work of the authorities based on this, it seems to me that it would be wrong, ” said the confidant of the Kremlin.

Recall that the inhabitants of Yekaterinburg, opposing the construction of the Church of St. Catherine, took to the streets of the city on Monday, May 13. People opposed the development of the square, which is located in the city center, for several days, chanted the slogans in defense of the park and called to remove the fences that were installed around the planned construction. In the protest in the first two days, according to local media reported, up to 2 thousand people took part. For participation in the shares, dozens of people were arrested .

Protesters against the destruction of the square / e1.ru

The Russian Orthodox Church compared protests due to the construction of the temple in Yekaterinburg with a civil war. “When we are talking about temple construction in Yekaterinburg and its environs, we must remember that this is the region in which the royal family was killed. In many temples of the Yekaterinburg Metropolitan, they pray for the repose of the royal family and people who were subject to torture and murders during the Bogoborian power. There is no other way to reconciliation, except as the unification of society around spiritual values. People who want to be the heirs of those who killed believers, destroyed the temples, pulled icons during the civil war, I must say that they should make a choice. With those who build temples, or with those who destroy them, haunts people who just want to pray, ”the deputy chairman of the Synodal Department for the ROC with society and the Media Vakhtang Kipshidze in an interview with“ Moscow says ”shared his considerations.

Meanwhile, two people in masks held on Thursday the Moscow residence of Patriarch Kirill Protest against the construction of the temple: they launched the poster “Apologize for the ECB” and abandoned smoke bombs. The “Association of Popular Resistance” took responsibility for the action, clarifying that its members respect the feelings of believers of all faiths, but they believe that “ROC CJSC has nothing to do with the ideas of Christ and has become in fact a commercial structure and a kind of analogue of the ideological department of the CPSU Central Committee”. Police came to one of the participants in the association today.