Anyone who has been affected by measures by an EU-member state that restrict the right to free movement within the European Union can turn to the courts in the country that adopted the measures, but the European Commission has no right to deal with this, a spokesman for the EU Commissioner for Justice, Freedom and Security, Jacques Barrot, said on Monday, November 9, to the TASR newswire.
Spokesman Michele Cercone was speaking in response to Hungarian MEP Kinga Gál, who had asked for an explanation in the case of Hungarian President László Sólyom, who was denied entry to Slovakia by the Slovak authorities in August.
Sólyom was supposed to take part in an unveiling ceremony for a statue of Hungarian King Stephen I in Komárno. The spokesman added that EU-member countries are allowed to adopt decisions that restrict the free movement of EU citizens when public security, public health and public policy are concerned. These measures should be appropriate, however, and it is up to national courts to decide on this. TASR
Compiled by Zuzana Vilikovská from press reports
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