On 17 March 2021, the ICMPD Director General Mr. Michael Spindelegger and the Chief of the State Migration Service of the Republic of Azerbaijan Mr. Vusal Huseynov signed the Seat Agreement between ICMPD and the Government of the Republic of Azerbaijan.

The long-lasting history of cooperation with the migration and border authorities of Azerbaijan was formalised by signing a Cooperation Agreement with the Government back in June 2006 and progress with cooperation in both bilateral and multilateral formats. Azerbaijan is an active participating state of the Budapest Process and the Prague Process, which allows for exchanging of priorities and best practices between state migration authorities.

After the successful implementation of the EU-funded multi-disciplinary MOBILAZE project that supported the implementation of the Mobility Partnership between the EU and Azerbaijan with a specific focus on strengthening the capacity of the government to develop and implement the national migration policy, ICMPD and the State Migration Service work towards building upon this model and preparing for MOBILAZE 2. The current focus of ICMPD in Azerbaijan is supporting the implementation of the Readmission Agreement through strengthening of the capacities of state authorities and civil society in the area of reintegration to actively facilitate the sustainable return from the European Union Member States and reintegration of Azerbaijani nationals (RESTART project).

The signed Seat Agreement will institutionalise and streamline practical cooperation between Azerbaijan and ICMPD and represents an important milestone in relations of both entities.