Ambassador of Turkmenistan Meets with the Director-General of the Immigration Office of Belgium

Ambassador of Turkmenistan Sapar Palvanov met with Mr. Freddy Roosemont, Director-General of the Immigration Office of Belgium.

The parties discussed prospects for establishing practical cooperation between the competent migration authorities of Turkmenistan and Belgium.

Special attention was paid to the protection of the rights and legitimate interests of citizens residing abroad, the exchange of information and experience in the field of migration policy, as well as opportunities to strengthen direct working contacts between the relevant services of the two countries.

The Ambassador noted that, in today’s environment of increasing international mobility, the establishment of convenient and reliable mechanisms of interaction between migration authorities is becoming particularly important. In this regard, the importance of cooperation on confirming citizens’ identity, restoring documents, providing consular assistance, and exchanging experience in migration management was underlined.

During the conversation, the parties also considered the possibility of preparing a bilateral document on cooperation in the field of migration, which could create a practical basis for further interaction between the competent authorities of Turkmenistan and Belgium.

The Director-General responded positively to the initiatives of the Turkmen side and noted their timeliness. He expressed the readiness of the Belgian service to develop cooperation with the relevant structures of Turkmenistan and underlined the importance of moving towards practical steps.

In this context, the Belgian side proposed considering the possibility of organising a visit of representatives of the State Migration Service of Turkmenistan to Belgium to become acquainted with the activities of the Immigration Office of Belgium and to exchange experience. The readiness of representatives of the Belgian service to visit Turkmenistan in order to continue the practical dialogue and identify concrete areas of cooperation was also confirmed.

The parties also exchanged views on the possible facilitation of visa procedures for holders of diplomatic and service passports in the context of developing cooperation between Turkmenistan and the Benelux countries.

At the conclusion of the meeting, both sides expressed their mutual readiness to continue working contacts and to consider concrete steps towards developing more practical and systematic cooperation in the field of migration.