The Prague Process Senior Officials’ Meeting (SOM), constituting the fourth preparatory SOM for the 3rd Ministerial Conference, took place in Bratislava on 19 September 2016, gathering 79 participants from 38 states, the European Commission Directorate General for Home Affairs (DG Home), the Council of the European Union, European External Action Service (EEAS), Frontex, as well as ICMPD and UNHCR.
Taking place the day before the 3rd Prague Process Ministerial Conference, this particular SOM provided the last opportunity to discuss the Ministerial Declaration, the adoption of which represents both the great opportunity and a great challenge and responsibility in the migration policy field, where the Prague Process is perceived as an important tool in addressing migration related issues in the Eastern dimension. Therefore, as was highlighted by Slovakia, the adoption of the Ministerial Declaration against the background of challenges posed by the need to protect external borders, the BREXIT, and irregular migration, comes at the right moment as it will constitute a basis for the future endeavours.
The European Commission reiterated the principles for good migration management i.e. effective border management, effective use of safe countries principle, resettlement/relocation and effective returns. The European Commission confirmed its political support as well as its readiness to respond adequately to the migration needs in the regions covered by the Prague Process, and at the same time noted that much has been done in the past seven years in the framework of the Prague Process, and the results can be applied to various other projects.
The leading state of the Prague Process – Poland pointed to the fact that Ministerial Declaration should confirm the joint interest in enhancing the cooperation under the PP umbrella as a truly unique process, while also reminded of the main challenge that the Prague Process Targeted Initiative project is coming to an end.
Discussion of the Ministerial Declaration started with short introduction into the history and main stages of the document preparation, and followed with the Q&A session where participating states provided with the last comments and concerns, which were reflected in the text of the Declaration.
