Cross-border stays in Slovakia and Ukraine extended

This change was at the core of the agreement approved by the Slovak government on October 19. According to it, residents of Slovakia and Ukraine’s cross-border areas will be able to stay in the other state’s territory for as many as 90 days under local border arrangements. Until now they have been able to do so for 30 consecutive days at most, the TASR newswire wrote.

The Interior Ministry drafted an amendment to an existing agreement on local border arrangements in accordance with a 2013 ruling of the EU Court of Justice which stipulated that holders of permits for cross-border traffic – exempted from visa obligations – must be allowed to stay in the border area for three months.

“These are not pronounced changes; it’s rather what life demands,” Interior Minister Robert Kaliňák commented for TASR after the government session.