Safeguarding the voting rights of citizens who move abroad

19.2.2020

Priority question for written answer P-001005/2020
to the Commission
Rule 138
Michal Šimečka (Renew), Sophia in 't Veld (Renew)

On 30 January 2020, the Slovak Minister of the Interior, Denisa Saková, made the following statement at a campaign meeting in Považská Bystrica:

‘These elections will be a little bit different in that we have around 60 000 requests from people who live abroad and who requested voting ballots and want to vote by post. I am sincerely asking you, do not let these people, who live abroad the whole time and who only learn about Slovakia from the media, to decide, together with voters from the capital, the results of these parliamentary elections’.

Does the Commission agree that it is highly problematic for the Interior Minister to make divisive comments about some of the electorate in light of her responsibility for organising elections in Slovakia, and safeguarding their integrity?

Moreover, the statement highlights the perception that Slovak voters residing abroad, most of whom have exercised their freedom to live in another EU Member State, are second class citizens. In the context of its proposed Democracy Action Plan, what measures will the Commission recommend to ensure that EU citizens who have moved abroad do not suffer discrimination in elections for making use of their free movement rights guaranteed by the EU Treaties?