BELGRADE, Serbia – The MARRI Ministerial Regional Forum was held in Belgrade on 7 April 2006, where Serbia and Montenegro concluded its year-long Presidency in the framework of MARRI (Migration, Asylum and Refugee Regional Initiative).
This meeting gathered regional interior ministers and high state representatives responsible for issues of migration, asylum and refugees of Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia and Serbia and Montenegro, while the participants included representatives of five MARRI Member States, Austria, Denmark, France, Germany, Sweden, European Commission, as well as international organisations including IOM, ICMPD, SEECP and the Stability Pact for South East Europe.
The MARRI Ministerial Regional Forum underlined the contribution of MARRI to the promotion of regional cooperation, as MARRI was established according to the basic guidelines of the regional ownership concept. The work of the MARRI Regional Forum contributes to the alignment of national policies and to the development, stabilisation and improvement of the situation in the region and this cooperation reflects the extent to which the region is prepared for integration into EU structures.
The participants reaffirmed its commitments for managing population movements in Southeastern Europe in the form of Belgrade Ministerial Declaration, based on the recommendations of the Thessaloniki Agenda (June 2003), MARRI Regional Forum held in Herceg-Novi (April 2004), MARRI Memorandum of Understanding signed in Tirana (July 2004) and Tirana Declaration (April 2005). MARRI Member States presented the situation and priorities of their countries in the fields of migration, asylum and refugee return, visa and consular cooperation and integrated border management, while the MARRI Regional Centre in Skopje presented its activities up to date.
The MARRI Member States adopted the main documents on the initiative at the meeting, namely: MARRI Guidelines and Rules of Procedure, Statute of MARRI Regional Centre and the MARRI Strategy and Programme of Action for 2006/2007. Several other important issues were decided, such as the next MARRI Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the appointment of a new Director of the MARRI Regional Centre in Skopje, Ms. Alenka Prvinšek.