On November 18-23 Centre for Eastern Studies has organized a study visit of the representatives of the Albanian border police. Our Centre prepared a weekly program of meetings dedicated to border management in the context of migration. The Albanian guests were learning the perspectives of border protection of the Republic of Poland and it’s everyday practice. The specifics of the various border ranges as well as the challenges related to the protection of the EU's external border were broadly discussed. The legalization of illegal immigrants’ stay (and the often practiced means to abuse the legalization’ procedures) were the questions that raised special interest. The mutual exchange of experience was talked, and the challenges raised by the influx of migrants on the territory of the Balkan countries, including Albania.
The guests from Albania visited the Headquarters of the Border Guard, the seat of the European Border and Coast Guard Agency (Frontex) and the UNHCR Representation in Poland. The program included a meeting with experts from the Office for Foreigners (Urząd do Spraw Cudzoziemców). Part of the visit was organized in the Podkarpackie Voivodeship in cooperation with the Bieszczady Border Guard Department (BBGD). This allowed the hosts to present specificity of the neighborhood and cooperation of border services both regarding the dimension of the external EU border (Poland-Ukraine) and the intra-EU border in the Schengen area (Poland-Slovakia). Guests visited the BBGD Headquarters in Przemyśl, the Center for Cooperation of Border, Police and Customs Services in Barwinek and the Border Guard Post in Medyka.
The visit was organized by the Centre for Eastern Studies (CES) as a part of the Visegrad initiative Civil Servants Mobility Programme (CSMP). It is a cooperation instrument financed by the International Visegrad Fund, implemented by the centers of the Think Visegrad consortium. As a part of the program, since 2014 there have been visits of officials and local government activists from the Eastern Partnership countries. Since 2017, some study visits of officials from the Western Balkans have also been organized. CES organizes and conducts visits regarding the subjects such as cross-border cooperation and border management.
| More about the Think Visegrad-V4 Think Tank Platform | Project co-financed by the International Visegrad Fund |
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