The Slovak government announced Friday that it will not register same-sex marriages or civil partnerships contracted in other EU member states, setting up a direct confrontation with European law.
Interior Minister Matúš Šutaj Eštok said he was bound by the Slovak constitution, which defines marriage as a union between a man and a woman. Prime Minister Robert Fico had already stated in June during a visit to a registry office that registering same-sex partnerships was impossible under Slovak law.
The refusal defies a November 2025 ruling by the European Court of Justice, which held that every member state must recognise a same-sex union lawfully concluded in another EU country. Metod Spacek and Ivan Novotny, a couple who married in Austria and were denied registration in Slovakia, have said they will take legal action against the government's order.