News

During last year’s Workshop on Gathering, Analysis and Sharing of Migration Data in Skopje, several Prague Process states expressed the need to receive in-depth training on managing migration data. Their request resulted in the organisation of a tailor-made training, which took place in Vilnius on 8-10 October 2019. The 2,5-day activity gathered representatives of 16 Prague Process states and Frontex. The training addressed the entire cycle of migration data management, ranging from its collection and analysis to its dissemination, visualisation and data protection issues. Five excellent trainers – on behalf of the Joint Research Centre (European Commission), the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Romania, the National Institute of Statistics of Italy, IOM’s GMDAC and ICMPD – facilitated the individual sessions and various exercises.

Upon invitation of the Ministry of Interior of Montenegro, representatives of 14 states gathered in the beautiful town of Budva on 24-26 September for the Training on Labour migration. The 2.5-day training covered the whole cycle of labour migration, ranging from pre-departure and pre-decision activities to skills recognition and reintegration steps.

The second Research Coordination Meeting of the Prague Process Migration Observatory took place in Vienna on 23 of July 2019. The meeting featured the discussion on the new cycle of research papers of the Migration Observatory that will see light at the end of 2019. During the event, each expert had an opportunity to present his draft research and receive concrete feedback from the peer-researches. Such feedback round in a small group of experts allowed identifying gaps and posing important research questions, which the papers shall further address.

The biggest international training programme for young people from Central Asia, the Caucasus, Southern and Central Europe on the critical issue of migration took place in Kachreti, Georgia from 30 June to 6 July 2019. Organised by ICMPD and funded by the European Union, this summer school targeted young professionals, government employees, students and civil society representatives. Violeta Wagner, ICMPD’s Regional Portfolio Manager for Eastern Europe and Central Asia who jointly with the ICMPD Team organised the event, highlighted its importance as follows: “This international summer school has profound implications for the future management of migration and integration in the region, as these early career professionals and talented students will one day be shaping these nations’ migration policies. The calibre and commitment of these young people has been astonishing and suggests that there is a bright future for migration policy making in the region.”

The recently launched MOMENTA project is opening a call for application for journalists, bloggers, and other media content creators interested in migration topics. If you are from Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova, Ukraine and Russia and fluent in English, you are encouraged to apply for a migration training facilitated by ICMPD and world-renowned media and migration experts! The extended deadline for application is 28 July 2019.

The training on legal, labour and other migration issues will be organised in the period from September to November 2019. All costs for participation in the training will be borne by the organisers. Eligible candidates must be available for the training cycle and the final conference in the specified period from September to December 2019 (exact dates to be communicated).

The following people are eligible to apply: 

• Junior or established (freelance) journalists from Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova, Ukraine and Russia
• Bloggers, radio or TV journalists, podcasters, other media creators
• Recent graduates of journalism or media studies in need of a training on migration issues

Application and selection procedure:

• Submission of complete applications in English: 28 July 2019, 17:00 CET, to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
• Potential consultations with shortlisted candidates: 15 July – 15 August 2019
• Notifications of acceptance: until the end of August 2019
• Training: September to November 2019 (exact dates TBC)
• Conference: December 2019 (exact dates TBC)

For further details such as eligibility criteria and the application procedure, please check the application document.

On June 10th, the Prague Process celebrated its 10th Anniversary! Hosted by the Romanian Presidency of the Council of the EU the Anniversary event gathered over 80 senior-level officials from 34 countries, the European Commission, Council of the EU and its current Presidency, EASO, Frontex, ICMPD and IOM at the impressive Parliament building in Bucharest. The event served to take stock of the past decade of cooperation and look into the future.

The new January-March 2019 issue of the Prague Process Quarterly Review is now availiable for download in English and Russian.

Aiming to address issues of acute importance, this Quarterly review looks at the demographic developments across the Prague Process states and at the results of the so-called EU-Turkey Agreement. Moreover, Lithuania’s Vice-Minister of Interior speaks about the current challenges in terms of labour shortages and efforts made to improve the understanding of migration among media and the public. The review further touches upon the thematic areas of IBM, return and migrant smuggling, and assesses the state of the European Agenda on Migration before the EU elections on 26 May 2019. Finally, it introduces the newest publications released by the Migration Observatory.

To see all issues please go to the section "Quarterly Review" under News & Events.

Since the very establishment of the Prague Process in 2009, Germany has been an active member to it. In the period 2012-2016, the country also led (together with Sweden) the two Pilot Projects on Asylum and International Protection. Due to the exceptional numbers of migrants and asylum seekers arriving to Germany in 2015-2016, the competent migration authorities had to limit their international cooperation and address the challenges faced within the country. Their efforts resulted in an overhaul of the strained asylum system and substantial investments in it. In order to learn more about the current state of play in the migration and asylum sphere and the lessons learned from the recent crisis, a study visit to the Federal Officer for Migration and Refugees (BAMF) of Germany was organised on 9-11 April 2019.

This three-day training was the third one implemented within the Prague Process Training Academy, following the ones on International Protection and on Trafficking in Human Beings, organised in 2018 in Rome and Baku respectively. The training in Kiev gathered 50 participants, including representatives of 13 participating states, the European Commission and a number of renowned trainers.