The Estonian Christian Orthodox Church (ECOC) has lost its legal battle with Tallinn authorities over the right to use premises at 64 Pikk Street, where the church’s administrative office is located, clearing the way for the municipality to reclaim the building.

On October 19, Estonia’s Supreme Court refused to hear the church’s appeal against the termination of its lease, leaving previous rulings in favor of the city in force, according to Estonian media reports. The decision is final and cannot be appealed.

The dispute concerns a municipally owned building in central Tallinn that the church had occupied for years under an open-ended lease. In April 2024, the Kesklinn district administration terminated the agreement. The church challenged the decision in court, but Harju County Court dismissed its claim in August 2025. In June 2026, the appellate court upheld that ruling.

The Supreme Court declined to accept the church’s appeal after finding no legal grounds to consider it.

Tallinn Mayor Peeter Raudsepp said the dispute, which had lasted several years, had finally been resolved. The municipality intends to regain use of the premises as soon as possible, he said.

City officials are already negotiating with church representatives. According to Raudsepp, the parties have reached a verbal agreement on vacating the building and are working to establish a timetable for its release.

Dispute Comes Amid Wider Church-State Tensions
The lease case is part of a broader conflict between the Estonian Christian Orthodox Church and the Estonian authorities over the church’s relationship with the Moscow Patriarchate.

The church and the Pyukhtitsa Stavropegial Convent have reportedly filed complaints with the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) over amendments to Estonia’s Churches and Congregations Act, which took effect on June 27. The changes require the church to amend its statutes to sever its subordination to the Moscow Patriarchate.

In May 2024, Estonia’s parliament declared the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC) an institution that supports Russia’s military operation in Ukraine.

Later, then-Interior Minister Lauri Läänemets said he hoped the Estonian Orthodox Church, then associated with the Moscow Patriarchate, would break its ties with the ROC and recognize the Moscow Patriarchate’s activities as heretical.

Vladimir Legoida, head of the Moscow Patriarchate’s Synodal Department for Church Relations with Society and the Media, responded by accusing Estonia’s Interior Ministry of seeking to destroy the Estonian church and force its believers into the jurisdiction of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople.

The final court ruling over the Pikk Street premises marks a significant development in the dispute over the church’s property use, as the wider disagreement over its ecclesiastical affiliation and Estonia’s legislation continues.