President Signs Amendment to Act on Non-Profit Organisations

Bratislava, May 7 (TASR) - President Peter Pellegrini on Wednesday signed an amendment to the law on non-profit organisations, as the President's Office hasn't found any reasons why this law in its approved wording could be in conflict with the Slovak Constitution or European law, TASR was told by the President's Office's communications department. According to the head of state, the significant changes made during the discussion of the law in Parliament eliminated the risk that the legislation wouldn't be in line with European Union law, which would entail possible sanctions for Slovakia. He believes that the public has the right to know more about how NGOs are funded. Pellegrini is aware that his decision is likely to arouse strong emotions in some sections of society. "However, after careful study, I see no reason to call the law by the adjectives that we have heard from the organisers of the protests," he said, pointing out that the current text of the law doesn't call any NGOs foreign agents, nor is it possible to close them down simply because they haven't fulfilled some administrative obligation. The public, he said, has a right to know more about how non-profit organisations are funded, especially when they themselves are making a strong demand for greater transparency from politicians, political parties and state institutions that handle our common resources. With regard to the obligation to disclose donors who have donated more than €5,000 a year, he believes that this amount sufficiently protects the privacy of the many small donors who contribute tens or hundreds of euros to non-profit organisations. MPs approved the amendment on April 16. It introduces several changes. For example, NGOs with an annual income of over €35,000 will be obliged to draw up a transparency report and to make information on the management of public funds available. The report should include information about individuals who have donated more than €5,000 to the organisation during the year. am/df