On 10-11 March 2011, the Commissariat for Refugees of the Republic of Serbia in association with the TAIEX Directorate – General Enlargement of the European Commission, organized a workshop on the topic of, “Migration challenges for pre-accession countries in South-East Europe.” The intention of this gathering was to further promote the development of the networks in existence amongst the institutions of the Republic of Serbia concerned with the issues of migration, their international counterparts and other European bodies who are involved in the process of migration management.

The workshop was attended by over 100 participants representing 15 countries: the government directorate of the Republic of Serbia which is involved in the migration management system, the representatives of the relevant institutions managing migration in Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Croatia, Macedonia and Turkey. Also in attendance were experts from the European Union from the countries of Belgium, Great Britain, Germany, the Netherlands and Sweden along with the representatives of the embassies of EU and other regional countries. The workshop was also attended by the representatives of the international community residing in Serbia – European Delegation, UNHCR, IOM, UNDP, the OSCE, ICMPD, as well regional initiative MARRI and the representatives of the academic community and civil society of the Republic of Serbia and the region.

The experts from the European Union presented their respective national frameworks for migration management as also the European initiatives and organizations dealing with migration, making particular reference to the European Migration Network.

Documents produced and discussed at this occasion, including the presentation of the Belgian Contact Point of the European Migration Network, can be found here.