BRATISLAVA, Sept. 20 (Xinhua) -- Nearly 50 countries expressed interest here Tuesday to extend the Prague Process Action Plan on migration cooperation for another five years, Slovak Interior Minister Robert Kalinak has announced.
The countries including member states of the European Union(EU), and non-EU countries such as Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkey, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.
"It's a crucial exchange of experience on how to improve the migration issue that is becoming more and more urgent," said Kalinak in reference to the importance of the third ministerial conference on the Prague Process.
Thanks to cooperation between the countries, the EU had managed to reverse negative developments in migration, especially on the Balkan route, he pointed out.
"The Slovak Republic stresses the importance of knowing who is crossing European borders when and for what reason. I believe the creation of the European Border and Coast Guard and secondments of police experts are a good way in which to find common solutions and further develop our cooperation," added Kalinak.
Kalinak also announced he had held talks with his Serbian counterpart Nebojsa Stefanovic.
"We've signed a cooperation agreement and approved the deployment of an additional 15 Slovak police officers to Serbia to protect the country's border," Kalinak said.
The Prague Process is one of the five processes listed in the European Agenda on Migration. It's aimed at both short-term and long-term migration policy development. The priorities of the Prague Process Action Plan for 2012-2016 are the prevention of and fight against illegal migration, integration of legally residing migrants, readmission, voluntary returns of migrants and their sustainable reintegration, mobility and development and international protection.
