Slovakia did not violate the laws of the European Union when it refused to allow Hungarian President László Sólyom into Komárno in Slovakia to attend the unveiling of a statue of Hungarian King Stephen I in August 2009, the European Commission ruled on June 24, the TASR newswire reported.
Hungary claimed to the EC that on August 21, 2009 “Slovakia refused Sólyom entry into the country” and cited Directive 2004/38/EC on the right of citizens of the EU and their family members to move and reside freely within the territory of the Member States.
The Slovak authorities considered the visit of the Hungarian President on August 21 – a day which marks the 41st anniversary of the occupation of Czechoslovakia by the Warsaw Pact – as a security risk and denied him entry.
Hungarian authorities filed a complaint with the Commission President in October 2009 calling on the Commission to launch infringement proceedings against Slovakia under Directive 2004/38/EC.
The Commission ruled that it was unable to bring infringement proceedings under the circumstances described, since “official visits by the head of one Member State to the territory of another Member State do not come under EU law and that Member States retain full control of their bilateral diplomatic relations”, as quoted by TASR.
Source: TASR
Compiled by Zuzana Vilikovská from press reports
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