On 17 November 2020, Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Vasyl Bodnar took part in the first Ministers’ Forum of International Religious Freedom or Belief Alliance.

Via online conference, Vasyl Bodnar said that traditionally, the Ukrainian society is tolerant of different religions, but the situation is deteriorating in the temporarily occupied parts of Ukraine.

"Bans on religious events, closure of Ukrainian Orthodox churches, persecutions and arrest of Muslims and “Jehovah's Witnesses” in Crimea, and imposition of administrative fines on the members of Jewish community are a sad reality for people in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine," Vasyl Bodnar said.

31 member-states have expressed interest in working on joint approaches to protect religious freedom in the world and to establish multilateral mechanisms to prevent harassment, persecution and discrimination in this area.

International Religious Freedom or Belief Alliance is an international organization established at the initiative of the US State Department and based on the Declaration of Human Rights. The association now has 31 members aimed to direct their efforts to counteract negative factors in the religious sphere and to protect the freedom of religion or belief in the world.