May 2022

A targeted study visit coordinated by Hellenic Foundation for European and Foreign Policy (ELIAMEP) and University of Belgrade – Faculty of Political Science (FPN) took place in Athens. In total, 7 academics, doctoral students and one representative of the Commissariat for Refugees and Migration of the Republic of Serbia visited Athens in the context of H2020 MIGREC Project.

The South-East Europe Programme of ELIAMEP led by Panagiotis Paschalidis, Adjunct Lecturer at the University of Western Macedonia and Research Fellow at ELIAMEP and Alexandros Koutras, Project Manager of the Programme, organized and hosted a series of indoor sessions at ELIAMEP offices in Athens as well as meetings with migration related stakeholders. The schedule included seminars, presentations and open discussions related to migration with scholars, experts as well as government officials.

The study visits of staff and PhD students focused on enhancing a better understanding of the migration issues and strategies of Greece and the current geopolitical challenges. The participants had the opportunity to learn more about migration issues in Greece by following the agenda:

• Visit to the Ministry of Migration and Asylum (Deputy Minister of Migration, Asylum in charge of integration)
• Visit to the NGO Solidarity Now (Marina Kanta – Legal Team Leader)
• Visit to PRAKSIS NGO (Athens Community Center)
• Seminar on series on social sciences research and methodology (Salomi Boukala – Assistant Professor, Department of Social Anthropology, Panteion University of Athens)
• Seminar on turning academic paper to policy papers (Angeliki Dimitriadi – Senior Research Fellow and former Head of the Migration programme at ELIAMEP 2017-2021)
• Presentation on the Asylum and Citizenship issues in Greece (Lampros Baltsiotis – Department of Political Science and History, Panteion University of Athens)

 

The list of staff and PhD students:

Natalija Perišić – Full Professor, University of Belgrade – Faculty of Political Science

Biljana Djordjević – Assistant Professor, University of Belgrade – Faculty of Political Science

Dejan Pavlović – Assistant Professor, University of Belgrade – Faculty of Political Science

Danica Santić – Associate Professor, University of Belgrade – Faculty of Geography

Violeta Marković – teaching assistant and a PhD, University of Belgrade – Faculty of Political Science

Danijela Pavlović – teaching assistant and a PhD student, University of Belgrade – Faculty of Political Science

Milica Todorović – teaching assistant and a PhD, University of Belgrade – Faculty of Geography

Jovana Konjević – representative of the Commissariat for Refugees and Migration of the Republic of Serbia

FPN (University of Belgrade – Faculty of Political Sciences) and ELIAMEP coordinated and conducted a networking visit with key migration related institutions in Albania in the context of the H2020 project MIGREC. The main outcome of this project will be the creation of migration related research center in Belgrade, Serbia.

The visit took place in Tirana from 4 to 7 April 2022, led by Stefan Surlić, Assistant Professor at FPN, Panagiotis Paschalidis, Adjunct Lecturer at the University of Western Macedonia and ELIAMEP Research Fellow, Alexandros Koutras, Project Manager at the South-East Europe Programme of ELIAMEP. These networking meetings involved governance (State and international), civil society and academia while their main purpose was to facilitate the exchange of knowledge at a regional, Western Balkan level and to promote the MIGREC project by exploring possibilities for future synergies and cooperation.

The team conducted in total five meetings with the following personalities:

Dr. Kosta Barjaba, Academic; Member of the Academy of Sciences of Albania; Chief of Staff to the Speaker of Parliament of Albania

Dr. Joniada Barjaba, Director, Ministry of Finance and Economy of Albania

Dr. Ilir Gedeshi, Academic; Director, Centre for Economic and Social Studies (CESS)

Mrs. Sara Zekaj, Project Associate, Palladium

Mr. Genci Pjetri, Program Coordinator and Developer, IOM Albania

The discussions focused on the regional migration developments in Albania and the Western Balkans, such as inward and outward migration (as well as internal and seasonal), brain drain, the engagement of diaspora and asylum seekers. The migration strategies implemented (or planned) on state-level were also discussed as well as the role of the civil society and international organizations in dealing with migration issues both in Albania and the Western Balkans in general. The stakeholders shared recommendations for MIGREC networking opportunities.