strategic vision

Type: Interregional forum on migration (regions covered: Europe and Asia)

Established: 1993

Objectives

The Budapest Process is an interregional dialogue on migration stretching from Europe to the Silk Routes region - also covering Europe's Eastern neighbors, the Western Balkans and Central Asia. It includes over 50 governments and numerous international organizations. During its more than 25 years of operation, the Budapest Process has developed from an information sharing tool between European countries in a pre-EU enlargement setting to a far-reaching European-Asian forum for improving migration management. It is chaired by Turkey and co-chaired by Hungary since 2006. The International Center for Migration Policy Development (ICMPD) hosts the Budapest Process Secretariat.The Budapest Process is managed through annual Senior Officials Meetings gathering all participating states. In addition, its geographic working group structure gives interested states in certain sub-regions an additional platform to discuss migration and related matters.

Budapest Map

Current focus

In February 2019, close to 40 Budapest Process participating countries in the presence of the European Commissioner for Migration, Home Affairs and Citizenship and representatives of relevant organizations adopted “The Istanbul Commitments on the Silk Routes Partnership for Migration and its Call for Action - a five year plan ”applying five key commitments to:

  • Partnership
  • Comprehensive migration governance
  • Respect, protect and fulfill international human rights and fundamental freedoms
  • Support and solidarity
  • Knowledge

Ministers agreed to take concerted action to endorse and implement the five-year plan “a Call for Action” which lists 41 actions following the six priority goals of the 2013 Istanbul Ministerial Declaration to ensure safe, orderly and regular migration:

  1. Prevent and counteract irregular migration, facilitating return and readmission of irregular migrants
  2. Better organize and improve conditions for legal migration and mobility
  3. Support the integration of migrants and counteract phenomena of discrimination, racism and xenophobia
  4. Strengthen the positive impact of migration on development
  5. Prevent and combat trafficking in persons
  6. Promote international protection

In line with the Implementation Plan endorsed by Senior Officials at the end of 2019, the Budapest Process' focus in 2020 and 2021 is on irregular migration and labor migration.

 

Chairing country

Budapest Process has a permanent chair.
Chair: Türkiye
Co-Chair: Hungary

 

Working Groups

The following working group structure was adopted in 2022, replacing the previous Regional Working Group established in 2010:

  • Thematic Working Group 1: Thematic Working Group on Law Enforcement Cooperation. Co-chaired by Bulgaria and Iraq
  • Thematic Working Group 2: Thematic Working Group on Return and Reintegration. Co-chaired by Bangladesh and Türkiye
  • Thematic Working Group 3: Thematic Working Group on Legal Pathways for Migration. Co-chaired by Italy and Pakistan

Since 2017, the Process has piloted an annual thematic approach in order to share in depth knowledge on a specific area of migration management and cooperation. This has enabled several Working Groups to focus on the same theme in their specific region. Other thematic meetings outside of the usual Regional Working Group format also take place depending on requests and priorities of participating states.

 

Secretariat

The International Center for Migration Policy Development (ICMPD) acts as the Secretariat of the Budapest Process.

Members

Member States [Referred by the Budapest Process as “Participating States”] (51 States)

  • Albania
  • Afghanistan
  • Armenia
  • Austria
  • Azerbaijan
  • Belarus
  • Belgium
  • Bosnia and Herzegovina
  • Bulgaria
  • Croatia
  • Cyprus
  • Czech Republic
  • Denmark
  • Estonia
  • Finland
  • France
  • Georgia
  • Germany
  • Greece
  • Hungary
  • Iraq
  • Ireland
  • Italy
  • Kazakhstan
  • Kyrgyzstan
  • Latvia
  • Liechtenstein
  • Lithuania
  • Luxembourg
  • Malta
  • Moldova
  • Montenegro
  • Netherlands, The
  • North Macedonia
  • Norway
  • Pakistan
  • Poland
  • Portugal
  • Romania
  • Russian Federation
  • Serbia
  • Slovakia
  • Slovenia
  • Spain
  • Sweden
  • Switzerland
  • Tajikistan
  • Turkey
  • Turkmenistan
  • Ukraine
  • Uzbekistan

Note: Founding States: Albania, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, Denmark, Estonia, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, the Soviet Union, Spain , Switzerland, Ukraine, United Kingdom, Belarus and Yugoslavia. 

Observers

Observer States (7 States)

Australia, Bangladesh, Canada, China, India, Iran, United States of America

 

Observer Agencies

  • European Institutions
  • Council of Europe
  • European Union Agency for Asylum EUAA
  • European Commission
  • European External Action Service EEAS
  • General Secretariat of the Council of the European Union
  • European Border and Coast Guard Agency Frontex

International Organisations

  • International Centre for Migration Policy Development ICMPD
  • International Labour Organisation ILO
  • International Organization for Migration IOM
  • United Nations Development Programme UNDP
  • United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees UNHCR
  • United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime UNODC
  • Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe OSCE
  • Organization of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation BSEC
  • Economic Cooperation Organization ECO

Regional Processes and Initiatives

Meetings

For more information, please see "Budapest Process Events".

Documents

For more documents, please see "Budapest Process Documents"

Contact Information

Budapest Process Secretariat
ICMPD Headquarters
Gonzagagasse 1, 5th floor, A-1010 Vienna
T: +43 1 504 46 77 - 0
F: +43 1 504 46 77 - 2375
E: budapestprocess@icmpd.org

Website
http: // www.budapestprocess.org

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