Enhancing cooperation among the Prague Process states

News

The Prague Process Policy Talk: ‘Labour Mobility inside the EU and Beyond: Introducing the European Labour Authority’, with Ms Slavka Eley, Head of Governance and Coordination at the European Labour Authority (ELA), and Mr Martin Hofmann, ICMPD Principal Advisor, is taking place on 27 January 2022 at 10:30 CET.

After an introduction of the role and mandate of the European Labour Authority, its priorities for 2021-2022 and operational activities, the two distinguished panellists will jointly assess some broader trends in European labour markets, their imbalances, sector-specific challenges and recurring problems. The focus will be on the implications of all this for labour mobility within the EU and beyond. In how far could enhanced intra-EU mobility, a targeted upskilling effort and the possible contribution of third-country nationals contribute to tackling existing and forthcoming skills shortages? What about the situation of particular mobile groups, such as posted, seasonal, tele or care workers, commuting across borders? The Policy Talk shall also look at the operational aspects of ELA’s and ICMPD’s work. 

This event is targeting the migration authorities, Ministries of Labour and Social Affairs, as well as the public employment services of the Prague Process states.

Please register to the event through the link: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_dOU0BwA_SBSBMft_EswnkA. You will receive the link to the virtual room, as soon as your registration is approved.

The policy talk will be held in English with simultaneous interpretation into Russian. The approximate duration will be 1,5 hours. The event will be carried out via Zoom and can be accessed directly through your browser, following the link received. Should you not have received the confirmation email with the link, please do the following:

  1. On 27 January, go to the event registration page, fill out the form indicating your email address and submit the data.
  2. Scroll down the page until you see the link at the bottom. By following this link, you will be able to join the event.

The discussion of the panellists will be followed by a Q&A session. Kindly submit your questions (in English and Russian) during the event through the chat.

Time: 27 January, 10:30 AM CET.

About the panelists:

Slavka Eley joined the ELA in September 2021 where she leads the Governance and Coordination Unit, responsible for the overall governance, external relations, horizontal policy coordination, compliance and communication. She leads the ELA Task Force on Road Transport. Prior to joining the ELA, she worked for the European Banking Authority, leading different units. She represented the EBA at European and international working groups, some of which she has been chairing herself. She holds a MBA in general management from the City University of Seattle and a Master degree in Mathematics and Physics from the Comenius University Bratislava.

Martin Hofmann is a migration expert and key advisor to the Director General of ICMPD. He has coordinated ICMPD’s programs on legal migration and integration and organized projects related to migration, migration management and integration. His research has produced comparative studies and publications on immigration, integration, irregular migration, human smuggling, asylum and migration policy development in European and global contexts.

Moderation: Alexander Maleev

Alexander Maleev is Project Manager within the Prague Process Secretariat at ICMPD, responsible for the implementation of the ‘Prague Process: Dialogue, Analyses and Training in Action’ initiative, funded by the European Commission. He has a Master in Social and Cultural Anthropology (University of Vienna) and in European Political and Administrative Studies (College of Europe).

The EU-funded Migration Partnership Facility (MPF) launched a new Call for Proposals, intended to support the implementation of the EU migration policy external dimension, to strengthen dialogue and cooperation on migration and mobility between Member States and priority partner countries outside the EU.

MPF grant funding under this Call (total of 15.2m EUR) will cover projects that:

  1. Support the EU’s migration priorities with partner countries
  2. Align to the new EU Talent Partnership (e.g. labour migration projects)

The Call is open to applicants from EU Member States public bodies, EU Member State-based organizations, and international organizations. The priority geographic coverage for the Call includes the European Neighbourhood, Western Balkans, Eastern Partnership countries and Africa.

There is no specific deadline – it is a rolling call, with project implementation possible until May 2025.

All relevant information, including Guidelines and application package, can be found on the MPF website. Should you have questions, please contact the MPF team directly at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

The Prague Process Policy Talk: ‘Learning from 2021: What migration dynamics and policy developments to expect in 2022?’ with Mr Jean-Louis De Brouwer, Director of the European Affairs Program, Egmont Institute, and Mr Ralph Genetzke, Director, ICMPD Brussels Mission, is taking place on 20 January 2022 at 10:30 CET.

Following their first Policy Talk in January 2021, the two distinguished panelists meet again to check in how far their expectations for the past year came to reality. Building on the main lessons from 2021, they shall look into the year ahead.

How will the COVID-19 pandemic affect migration and mobility in 2022? What policy developments in the area of asylum and migration can we expect at EU level and beyond? What are the prospects for the wider EU neighbourhood? What migration dynamics can we expect? How can the Prague Process contribute to improving migration and mobility across the region? Or is the worst yet to come?

Jean-Louis De Brouwer and Ralph Genetzke will try to address some of these questions in a discussion moderated by Malin Frankenhaeuser, Head of Policy, ICMPD.

Please register for the event through the link: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_PmJldU0lSDCDzVpdOqG2bg. 

The Republic of Belarus is both a country of emigration and immigration. The positive net migration notwithstanding, the population of Belarus is slowly declining. Since 1996, it lost over 800,000 people including 60,000 persons in 2020 alone.

According to the 2019 population census, Belarus is home to some 764,000 immigrants most of whom originate from Russia, Ukraine and Kazakhstan. Over half of them came to Belarus for family reasons.  In the past decade, migration flows to the country have been steadily increasing and reached 34,846 in 2019. Overall, international migrants constitute 10-15% of the total population of Belarus. At the end of 2020, among the holders of temporary residence permits around 40% resided for studies, 24% for business reasons, and 24% due to family reunification.

This is the last issue of the Quarterly Review in 2021. Throughout the year, the Review covered a wide range of migration policies, dynamics, events and other issues informing our migration debates. Some concerned legislative amendments that will drive and define migration in the coming years. Others covered developments and trends across the Prague Process region and their possible implications. The Review also reported important milestones of the Prague Process: events and publications, the launch of the e-learning Platform and the first steps towards the Prague Process’ new political mandate to be granted by the Ministerial Conference in October 2022.

Dear Colleagues, dear Friends,

2021 is coming to an end.

We sincerely thank you for the time, interest and dedication devoted to the Prague Process this year and hope to continue our fruitful cooperation in 2022!

In the meantime, we wish you and your families good health, peace and joy during this holiday season!

With warmest regards,

Prague Process Secretariat

For over 20 years, the international community celebrates International Migrants Day on 18 December. The day was selected to mark the anniversary of the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1990. It is the day to praise the contributions made by migrants across the globe. Some of them fled conflicts, violence, war and environmental disasters. The majority, however, pursued economic goals given the lack of decent economic opportunities at home.

The Republic of Azerbaijan features substantial cross-border movements, both from and into the country. For 2018, the CIS portal reveals an influx of 2,845,679 and outflow of 2,842,773 foreigners. In 2020, these figures decreased threefold, presumably owing to COVID-19. Meanwhile, the national statistics of Azerbaijan only reflect foreigners holding permanent residence permits. In 2019, there were 2,042 immigrants and 1,654 emigrants according to the State Migration Service and the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

On 22 November, Dushanbe hosted the 17th EU-Central Asia Ministerial Meeting featuring the Foreign Ministers of Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, as well as the European Union’s (EU) High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and EU Commissioner for International Partnerships. The Parties met to discuss the state of cooperation between the EU and the countries of Central Asia and the prospects for expanding it in the areas of trade, investment and environment, as well as common security challenges. Participants also exchanged views on issues of mutual interest, such as the evolving situation in Afghanistan.   

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