Russell, 14/10/2009 (Agence Europe) - On Wednesday 14 October, the European Commissioner for Justice, Liberty and Security, Jacques Barrot, said that the decision taken by Slovakia to ban the Bulgarian President, Laszlo Solyom, from setting foot on its soil, was a purely bilateral issue. "The problem is a matter for Slovakia and Hungary alone", said Mr Barrot. "I thought that this incident was over (...). I dare to hope that this problem will not recur and that serious misunderstandings can be prevented by dialogue", he added. Hungary went to the European Commission asking it to bring in infringement proceedings against Slovakia, which on 21 August refused to allow the Hungarian president onto its soil, despite the freedom of movement rules within the Schengen area, the Budapest government reported on Tuesday. Hungary "brought the matter to the Commission's attention and asked it to bring in proceedings against Slovakia" under article 226 of the Treaty, a press release states. This provision would allow the European Commission to launch infringement proceedings against a Member State which was not fulfilling its obligations and to take these as far as the Court of Justice in Luxembourg. "By means of these proceedings, Hungary wishes to put an end to this issue to prevent such an incident from recurring in the future", the press release continues. "The directive on the free movement of citizens of the EU is one of the cornerstones of the functioning of the EU, and it is vitally important that it be interpreted in exactly the same way in all of the countries in question", the press release concludes. The Commission is not believed to have received a letter from the Hungarian authorities so far. "Legally, the Commission is only responsible for the transposition of the directive into the internal law of the Member States", a European source told us. "Therefore, the Commission cannot intervene in an issue of the incorrect application of the national law. The Hungarians' only solution is to bring the matter before the Slovakian justice system", our source concluded. (B.C./trans.fl)