64th Meeting of the PABSEC Committee for Legal Affairs and International Cooperation, Ioannina (Greece), 29-30 October 2024
The 64th Meeting of the PABSEC Committee for Legal Affairs and International Cooperation was held in Ioannina (Greece) on 29-30 October 2024 upon the invitation of the Hellenic Parliament.
The Meeting was attended by the national delegations of Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Greece, Serbia, Türkiye and Ukraine, as well as a representative of the BSEC Permanent International Secretariat and members of the PABSEC International Secretariat. The Meeting was chaired by Mr. Mustafa Hamarat, Vice-Chair of the Committee (Türkiye).
At the opening ceremony, the participants were addressed by Mr. Constantine Tassoulas, President of the Hellenic Parliament, Ms. Sofia Voultepsi, Deputy Minister of Migration and Asylum of the Hellenic Republic, Mr. Konstantinos Vlasis, Head of the PABSEC Hellenic Delegation, Mr. Thomas Mpegas, Mayor of Ioannina, and Mr. Asaf Hajiyev, PABSEC Secretary General. At the end of the opening ceremony, the PABSEC Secretary General presented the PABSEC Medal of Honour to Mr. Constantine Tassoulas, President of the Hellenic Parliament.
The Committee discussed the draft Report and Recommendation 200/2024 “Legal Challenges of the Refugee and Migration Flows in the BSEC Region” that will be submitted to the 64th Plenary Session of the General Assembly.
The Committee took note of the information on the activities of the BSEC Organization, presented by Ambassador Merve Kavakci, First Deputy Secretary General of the BSEC Permanent International Secretariat.
At the Meeting, memorable gifts for their contribution to the PABSEC activities were presented to Ms. Sofia Voultepsi, Deputy Minister of Migration and Asylum of the Hellenic Republic, former member of the PABSEC Hellenic Delegation, to Ms. Maria Kefala, PABSEC former member of the PABSEC Hellenic Delegation, Member of the Hellenic Parliament, and Mr. Konstantinos Vlasis, Head of the PABSEC Hellenic Delegation. Also, for the successful work in the PABSEC International Secretariat in 2015-2023 on the post of the PABSEC Deputy Secretary General in charge of Organizational Matters, Mr. Miltiadis Makrygiannis, Secretary of the PABSEC Hellenic Delegation was awarded the PABSEC Certificate of Merit.
The next 65th Meeting of the Committee will be held in spring 2025 in Romania. It was decided to discuss “International Cooperation in the Fight against Organized Crime in the BSEC Region” as the main subject. Mr. Kamran Bayramov, member of the Committee, Member of the PABSEC Azerbaijani delegation, was appointed as the Rapporteur on this issue.