The majority of the thesis was copied from a publication he edited in 2003 with Slovak diplomat Miroslav Adamiš, "Slovakia on the Road to the European Union – Chapters and Contexts", in which they described the country's EU accession process.

[8] Furthermore, Figeľ created a controversy with an electoral campaign focusing on anti immigration and nationalist rhetoric with a slogan about "white Slovakia".

[10] In autumn 2010, Slovak media raised controversy regarding Figeľ's generous EU perks making him a politician with best revenues in Slovakia.

[13] During his mandate, Figeľ reported to the European Commission Vice-President Frans Timmermans who was then responsible for the dialogue with churches and faith-based organisation (Art.17 TFEU).

[15] On 11 April, Chairman of the British Pakistani Christian Association (BPCA) Wilson Chowdhry said during a seminar in the European Parliament that "[the BPCA] is embarrassed that it ever believed Jan Figel, special envoy for the promotion of freedom of religion or belief outside the EU, who told the Pakistani government that the outcome of Bibi's case is going to be directly linked to trade favors the EU bestows upon Pakistan.