Tallinn, July 30, 2026
Photo: err.ee
Estonian officials are debating whether to end the Moscow-affiliated church’s lease on the St. Alexander Nevsky Cathedral in Tallinn, after Interior Minister Igor Taro called for the agreement to be terminated, reviving a long-running dispute over the landmark’s future.
Taro said the city of Tallinn, which owns the building, should end its lease with the Estonian Christian Orthodox Church, a self-governing Church within the Moscow Patriarchate, reports err.ee.
“There is no need to nationalize anything, simply terminate the agreement early and shut off the money flow to the Moscow organization,” Taro said, adding the unfounded claim that the cathedral functions as a tourist attraction rather than a traditional parish church.
Historian Lauri Vahtre had proposed on social media that the cathedral be sold and relocated elsewhere in Tallinn, arguing this would remove what he called a symbol of Russification from Toompea hill. Taro responded to Vahtre’s post by noting that Isamaa holds power in Tallinn and could act on the lease directly.
The Church has held the lease on the cathedral since 2001, when the building was handed over for free use by decision of the Tallinn city council — a decision that authorities have claimed years later was made under Russian pressure.
The Church currently rents several properties in Tallinn. In 2024, the city unilaterally terminated a separate lease with the Church for office space on Pikk Street, a decision that has led to an ongoing court dispute.
Tallinn Deputy Mayor Tiit Terik, of the Center Party, said the city currently has no legal grounds to terminate the St. Alexander Nevsky Cathedral lease, since neither party has violated its terms. “If we act as a rule-of-law state and respect agreements, then we currently have no legal basis to terminate the lease,” Terik said, while acknowledging that Russia’s war against Ukraine has intensified public sentiment on the issue.
New amendments to Estonia’s Churches and Congregations Act, which took effect at the end of June, bar religious organizations from being subordinate to a foreign spiritual leader considered a threat to Estonia’s national security. Religious organizations have until December 28 to bring their structures into compliance, or face possible forced dissolution by the interior minister.
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