Bulgarian Patriarch Daniil received US Ambassador to Bulgaria Kenneth Merten at the Holy Synod, the Patriarch’s office announced on its website, as reported by the Bulgarian news agency BTA. The meeting was held at the request of the US ambassador. Patriarch Daniil pointed to the long years of fruitful cooperation between the Bulgarian Orthodox Diocese in the US and the US authorities. During the meeting Patriarch Daniil laid particular emphasis on the state of religious freedom and freedom of worship, stating that with regard to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate) various restrictions are being imposed, church property is being forcibly appropriated and hate speech instigated, as a result of the “discriminatory policy of certain factors in Ukraine”. Patriarch Daniil stated that “in European history since the Reformation, religious peace has always been a pre-condition for political and social peace,” the press release of the Holy Synod of the Bulgarian Orthodox church reads.