Baku hosted III Mobility Partnership Conference

The annual international Mobility Partnership Conference was held within the framework of EU-funded project “Support to the Implementation of the Mobility Partnership with Azerbaijan” (MOBILAZE).

The conference, which traditionally serves as a regional platform to discuss the Mobility Partnership priorities in different areas of migration and mobility, will mark this year the final phase of the MOBILAZE project implementation.

“The Joint Declaration on a Mobility Partnership signed between the European Union (EU) and the Republic of Azerbaijan” established a set of political objectives and identified a number of priority areas in which further dialogue and cooperation shall continue in order to support people-to-people contacts and mobility and ensure that the movement of persons is managed as effectively as possible.

At the conference held with the participation of government officials, EU Delegation in Azerbaijan, Director General of the International Center for Migration Policy Development (ICMPD) and other migration experts, regional approaches to migration and mobility, including further improvement of cooperation on these issues were discussed.

Chief of the State Migration Service, III rank state migration service counselor Mr. Vusal Huseynov delivered a speech on “Priorities in cooperation on migration and mobility with the EU”. Service chief highlighted the significance of the EU-funded MOBILAZE project for state bodies. He stated that Mobility Partnership represents one of the most advanced frameworks of cooperation and partnership between the EU, its Member States and third countries in the field of migration and human mobility. As a key policy instrument of the so-called EU Global Approach to Migration and Mobility, it enables the EU and its partner countries to address all migration and mobility issues of mutual concern in a targeted, specific and concrete way by creating tangible benefits for citizens and other stakeholders on both sides.

Later, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Mr. Ramiz Hasanov, head of the EU Delegation in Azerbaijan Mr. Kestutis Jankauskas and Director General of the ICMPD Mr. Michael Spindelegger made speeches. Further cooperation perspectives in the fields of migration and mobility between EU and Azerbaijan were discussed, as well.