The Government has formally endorsed a bill tabled by a group of MPs affording a diplomatic passport to the Metropolitan Bishop of Bessarabia.

According to Interior Minister Ana Revenco, the measure is supposed to fix the “discriminatory” situation where the Metropolitan Bishop of Moldova is entitled to a diplomatic passport, whereas his Bessarabian counterpart is not.

Revenco went on to emphasize that, according to the principle of sovereignty, any state is free to decide who is entitled to hold diplomatic passports.

The Metropolis of Bessarabia is an autonomous branch of the Romanian Orthodox Church. The current Metropolitan of Bessarabia is Petru Paduraru.