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Permanent Mission of the Russian Federation to the European Union

Submitted on 2013-02-12 23:00:00

Russian and EU experts discuss legal migration issues

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The fourth expert meeting of the Russia-EU Dialogue on Migration dedicated to legal migration issues was held on 7 February 2013 in Bratislava, Slovakia.

Participants from the Russian side included representatives of competent authorities: Federal Migration Service, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Labour, as well as Permanent Mission to the EU. The EU delegation comprised experts from the Commission and 23 Member States. Representatives of the International Organization for Migration, Association of European Businesses in Russia, National Research University ‘Higher School of Economics’ also took part in the meeting.

The participants exchanged information and practice on legal migration including entry and residence of legal migrants, models for matching immigration to labour market needs, integration programmes for migrants. Further prospects of Russia-EU cooperation in the framework of the new Work Plan for 2013-2014 with focus on practical cooperation of the Parties were identified at the meeting. The expert meeting on legal migration completed the first cycle of events of the Dialogue on Migration planned for 2011-2012. 

The next session is to be held in Russia in the summer of 2013.

The Russia-EU Dialogue on Migration was launched in May 2011. During 2011 and 2012 expert meetings on international protection, on illegal migration and on migration and development issues were held respectively on 14 December 2011 in Moscow, on 30 March 2012 in Budapest and on 26 October 2012 in Saint Petersburg.