Aleksandre Dararkhvelidze, the Deputy Interior Minister of Georgia, on Tuesday briefed a conference hosted in Tbilisi as part of the European Union-funded Prometheus project about measures taken by his office to combat illegal migration and unwarranted asylum claims following the 2017 EU-Georgia visa-free travel agreement.
Addressing the two-day event - titled Migration from Georgia to Europe and the Schengen Area - Multi-sectoral Cooperation to Counter Irregular Migration, Migration-Related Crime and to Better Regulate Health-Driven Migration - the official highlighted the importance of the visa waiver for Georgia’s EU integration, the Ministry press office said.
The conference featured Georgian officials, diplomats and representatives of international organisations, while thematic panels focused on the cooperation between the Interior Ministry and agencies of partner states, as well as the EU bodies Europol and Frontex, for border management and combating organised crime, the body added.
The second phase of the Prometheus project has been implemented by the Ministry of Internal Affairs of France since 2022 in cooperation with the Georgian body to strengthen the latter’s capabilities for border and migration management and combating organised crime.