European Court hears Hungary-Slovakia dispute over thwarted presidential visit
Forrás: MTI |
2012. február 01. szerda 21:15 |
The European Court of Justice held a hearing on Wednesday over a Hungarian presidential visit thwarted by Slovakia in 2009.
The proceedings were launched by Hungary, which claims that Slovakia preventing then-president Laszlo Solyom from entering the country on August 21, 2009, was not compatible with European Union laws and norms. Slovakia has denied wrongdoing and said the matter must be judged in the framework of diplomatic relations and rules of international law, rather than on the EU principle of free movement of persons.
The European Commission has rejected Hungary's complaint against Slovakia and its representative attended Wednesday's hearing acting as intervener on Slovakia's side. The Commission said that Hungary's claims were unfounded and insisted that Slovakia had not breeched any EU laws in connection with the president's visit.
Miklos Feher, the representative of Hungary's Ministry of Public Administration and Justice, argued at the hearing that Solyom's planned trip could not be regarded as an official visit.
Solyom was scheduled to attend the ceremony of unveiling a statue of Hungarian King Stephen I in Komarno, south Slovakia, but he turned back from the border after the Slovak government had made it clear that his presence would be unwelcome. Two days before his visit Slovak President Ivan Gasparovic, Prime Minister Robert Fico and House Speaker Pavol Paska had issued a joint statement claiming that Solyom's choice for a visit was "insensitive". On August 21, 1968, troops of the Warsaw Pact, among them Hungarians, had entered Czechoslovakia to thwart the Prague Spring there.
An expert opinion to the European court on the dispute is expected to be released on March 6.