On 22 October a two-day high-level seminar will start in Brussels to facilitate the policy dialogue between Armenia and the EU on migration cooperation. The event aims at promoting dialogue in the context of the Mobility Partnership as well as the ongoing negotiations for EU-Armenia Visa Facilitation and Readmission Agreements. Supported by the European Union and the IOM Development Fund, the seminar is organised by the International Organization for Migration (IOM) under the auspices of the European Commission and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Armenia, and within the framework of the “Strengthening Evidence-Based Management of Labour Migration in Armenia” project. One of the focal topics will be enhancing cooperation on labour migration management issues among European destination countries and Armenia, with a particular focus on possible bilateral labour agreements and circular labour migration schemes. The Policy Seminar “EU – Armenia Cooperation on Migration: The Mobility Partnership: One year on” is the first in a series of three consecutive events planned for 2012 – 2013 to encourage the Policy Dialogue on Migration. The Policy Dialogue is expected to facilitate the partnership between Armenia, the EU and its Member States on migration and asylum issues especially in light of the EU-Armenia Association Agreement negotiations, the EU-Armenia Mobility Partnership and other migration related processes. The first of these meetings marks almost one year since the signature of the EU-Armenia Mobility Partnership on 27 October 2011 and follows the launch of negotiations on visa facilitation and readmission agreements on 27 February 2012. The meeting will gather Armenian authorities in charge of migration management and representatives of the EU Member States dealing with external cooperation on migration. As a complement to the plenary discussions, the organisers have also envisaged bilateral meetings between Armenian and EU MS officials to discuss the possibility to continue bilateral cooperation on migration issues. For more information, please contact the Policy Seminar Coordinator, Ms. Kristina Galstyan, Tel: +374 10 585692, E-mail: kgalstyan@iom.int.

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