Bulgaria’s vetoes have reportedly prompted the EU to drop Patriarch Kirill, head of the Russian Orthodox Church, from the bloc’s upcoming 21st package of sanctions.According to Euronews on Monday, citing its diplomatic sources, Sofia also requested the removal of Vagit Alekperov, a Russian oil billionaire, from the sanctions lists.JOIN US ON TELEGRAMFollow our coverage of the war on the @Kyivpost_official.However, the EU’s top diplomat, Kaja Kallas, said the bloc has yet to finalize the upcoming sanctions package on Russia, adding that “some open questions” remain, according to Reuters.The development is not unprecedented.In June 2022, Hungary, under former Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, blocked EU efforts to sanction Patriarch Kirill, with Italy also voicing opposition to targeting the Russian church leader.Earlier reports suggested the EU would announce the package on Monday after waves of deadly Russian attacks on Ukraine.Patriarch Kirill, born Vladimir Gundyaev, is the head of Russia’s Orthodox Church and a confidant of Russian leader Vladimir Putin.The religious leader has amplified the Kremlin’s narrative and supported Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. In September 2022, he told soldiers that dying in the invasion is a way to atone for sins and indirectly framed the invasion as a “holy war” against the West.In November 2023, Ukraine filed criminal charges against Patriarch Kirill, arguing that the religious leader was “a member of the inner circle of Russia’s top military and political leadership and ... one of the first to publicly support the full-scale war against Ukraine.”