Czech Minister of the Interior Ivan Langer: “We have drafted and adopted the joint Prague Declaration on Migration”.
On 27 – 28 April 2009 the ministerial conference “Building Migration Partnerships” was held in Prague. Its scope ranks it as the largest event of the Ministry of the Interior during the Presidency. It is also one of the largest events during the whole of the Czech Presidency. A total of 50 delegations got together to address issues of migration policy. The conference should shift the European asylum and migration model to the East and South-East and thus spread the feeling of security in Europe.
“Migration policy ranks among the key priorities of the Ministry of the Interior not only during the Czech Presidency. We have been paying constant attention to migration policy. I am proud that we have managed to prepare and organise this conference. We have been working on it for two years. It required a lot of dedication and hard work by the whole team. Only a great team with a strong vision may engage in such activities. We have managed to accomplish this task. We have led our European partners and EU institutions to embrace the idea of a ministerial conference. In 2007, the “Global Approach to Migration” focusing originally on Africa and the Mediterranean was extended to include the Eastern and South-Eastern regions neighbouring the EU. Together with all our partners, we have put this policy into practice. We have worked out and adopted a joint declaration of all participating countries. I consider this to be a major success”, said Minister Langer.
Historic moment. The Ministry of the Interior of the Czech Republic organised the first event of its kind. Thanks to the organising team, Prague could become the meeting point for Ministers in charge of migration from the EU/Schengen countries, South-East Europe, Eastern Europe and Central Asia. Mutual relations based on partnership. At this conference, the Ministers outlined concrete areas of migration which they will develop together. The conference culminated with the adoption of the joint “Prague Declaration on Migration”. The presence of 24 Ministers from 50 participating countries underscores the support of partnership and of the joint declaration. Courage and hard work. The conference preparations began in 2007. During the German Presidency, with strong support from the Czech Republic, the concept of a “Global Approach to Migration” from the Mediterranean region and Africa was then extended to regions neighbouring with the European Union in the East and South-East. In 2008 under the Slovenian Presidency the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic took part in an evaluation of the current experiences in the Czech Republic. During the following French Presidency the Czech Ministry of Foreign Affairs came up with the idea of a ministerial conference for European partners and institutions. This idea was successfully realised and the organisation of the conference became a part of the European Pact on Immigration and Asylum, which was adopted by the European Council. However, it was not until the Czech Presidency that the Ministry of the Interior implemented this policy in cooperation with all its partners and worked out a joint migration declaration.
The five main topics developed in the joint “Prague Declaration on Migration” and addressed in the context of the ministerial conference are:
- Illegal migration: prevention and fight against illegal migration
- Readmission, return and reintegration: support of readmission, voluntary return
- Legal migration: improved management of legal migration with emphasis on work-related migration
- Integration: further support of integration of legal migrants
- Migration and development: use of migration for development.
Contact:
- Markéta Matlochová, Spokesperson for Czech Presidency of the EU, Ministry of the Interior
- tel.: +420 974 832 971, GSM: +420 603 191 750, e-mail: matlochova@mvcr.cz
Last update: 28.4.2009 18:21
