BELGRADE, Serbia – A combined Donor Conference and Meeting of the Friends of the Migration, Asylum, Refugees Regional Initiative (MARRI) was held in Belgrade on 13-14 June 2005 under the Serbia and Montenegro MARRI Presidency. The purpose of the Conference was to seek funding from the donor community for the ongoing and planned activities of MARRI in the issues of asylum, migration and visa policies under the framework of regional ownership and cooperation. The participants included representatives of MARRI Member

SKOPJE, Macedonia -The meeting was the first gathering of the heads of asylum units from the region organized by the MARRI Regional Centre in Skopje. The participants exchanged views on information and data exchange on issues of asylum and refugees. As it was apparent that the network of regular data exchange among five MARRI Member States was lacking, the aim of the meeting was to take concrete steps towards establishment, for the first time, of a mechanism for gathering and

TIRANA, Albania – Regional interior ministers and high state representatives met in Tirana on 5 April 2005 in the framework of the Migration, Asylum, Refugees Regional Initiative (MARRI), where they adopted a joint declaration on regional cooperation in the field of asylum, migration, border management, visa regime and sustainable solutions for refugees and displaced persons. The participants have agreed that the priorities laid out in Declaration during the remainder of 2005 form a vital part of EU integration process and

BELGRADE, Serbia -The preparatory meeting for the MARRI Regional Forum in Tirana was held at the premises of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Serbia and Montenegro in Belgrade on 3-4 March 2005 and was organised by the Chairmanship-in Office of MARRI Regional Forum (Albania), forthcoming Chairmanship in Office (Serbia and Montenegro) and MARRI Regional Centre in Skopje, with the participation of political directors from MFAs and MOIs from five SAp countries of the Western Balkans and representatives of the

SKOPJE, Macedonia – The MARRI Visa Experts Meeting was organized by the MARRI Regional Centre in Skopje on 23-24 February 2005, with over twenty representatives of national governments/experts from the region: Albania (Presidency of the MARRI Regional Forum), Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia, Serbia & Montenegro, representatives of the International Centre for Migration Policy Development (ICMPD) and the Stability Pact for South Eastern Europe. The MARRI Regional Centre in Skopje organized this meeting to initiate a regional discussion on visa