Slovakia's lawsuit against migrant quotas may be resolved this year

The lawsuit filed by Slovakia regarding refugee relocation quotas among EU-member states will be decided by the end of the year, said European Court of Justice President Koen Lenaerts during his visit to the Slovak Supreme Court on Tuesday. "Certainly, it's not a matter of years, but of months. It could be up to 12 months", said Lenaerts when questioned about the time scale. The suit was registered at the court in Luxembourg on December 3. Lenaerts said that it's currently in the writing process during which member states are able to comment on the case. "Each member state has a right to comment in its own language, which means that these statements have to be translated, which also takes some time, but I hope that the decision will be made by the end of 2016 or at the beginning of 2017 at the latest", said Lenaerts. Slovakia demands that the European Court of Justice should declare invalid the decision of the Council of the European Union to relocate refugees from Italy and Greece to other EU countries based on quotas. Slovakia also demands that the council should pay for the court costs. The interior ministers of Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Hungary and Romania voted against the quotas, while Finland abstained. Hungary also filed a lawsuit regarding the matter later. Lenaerts was hosted by Slovak Supreme Court Chair Daniela Svecova.