The Slovak-Hungarian dispute over Slovakia's refusal to allow Hungarian President László Sólyom entry to Slovakia on August 21 is a bilateral issue, said the Vice President of the European Commission in charge of Justice, Freedom and Security Jacques Barrot in Brussels on October 14.
“This is a problem between Slovakia and Hungary. I explained this when welcoming the Slovak and Hungarian delegations, and I believed that this incident was over, as a dialogue between the prime ministers had been launched,” said Barrot as quoted by the TASR newswire.
The Commissioner also expressed his conviction that this dialogue will be held in a manner that will prevent serious misunderstandings whenever possible. Barrot's comments came after an announcement by Hungary that it plans to take action via Brussels concerning the non-visit. Budapest called on the European Commission to begin legal action against Slovakia for denying Solyom entry as it considers Slovakia's decision to be in contradiction with European laws on the free movement of people.
Solyom was supposed to take part in an unveiling ceremony for a statue of Hungarian King Stephen I in Komarno (Nitra region). The visit was due to take place on the same day that Slovakia was commemorating the 40th anniversary of the Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia (which included Hungarian troops). TASR
Compiled by Zuzana Vilikovská from press reports
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