Salzburg Forum
The Salzburg Forum (SF) is a Central European security partnership of Austria, Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia. Member states cooperate in areas of police cooperation, illegal immigration, witness protection, fight against drugs, traffic safety and other areas of internal security. They also focus on positions coordination and advancing common interests in the European Union in the area of Home Affairs. At least two conferences of interior ministers per year are held. As a rule, three SF ministerial meetings are held per year. One meeting takes place in the country holding the presidency  and one further meeting is usually held in summer in Austria. In addition, ministers regularly meet in the margins of EU Council meetings. Purpose. In a report on migration in the Czech Republic, the responsible Czech ministry published the following summary on SF. “The Ministers of the Interior of the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Austria, Slovakia, and Slovenia have cooperated within the Salzburg groups since the adoption of the Salzburg Declaration in 2001. Ministers of Bulgaria and Romania joined the group in 2005 as candidate countries of the European Union. This cooperation became a basis for close partnership of participating  countries in activities relating to internal security and regional stability. The initial objective of the Salzburg Group was, through mutual cooperation and exchanges of experience, to facilitate the inclusion of candidate countries and new EU Member States into a single European area of freedom, security and justice, with priorities being police cooperation, border checks, illegal migration, and asylum. Activities of the Salzburg Group focus nowadays mainly on specific cooperation in the area of common regional issues in the context of membership of the Salzburg Group states in the European Union. The Salzburg Group is, according to the statement of the  Commissioner for Justice and Home Affairs, Mr. Frattini, at the meeting of the Ministers of the Interior of the Salzburg Group states held in Gratz, Austria, in July 2005, an important forum for the exchange of opinions, ideas and experiences concerning the creation of the area of freedom, security and justice, i.e. tasks arising from the Hague Programme. A special emphasis is, in this context, placed on regional cooperation regarding asylum and migration, in particular on enhancing information exchanges and cooperation between public institutions concerned, the development of common strategies for combating illegal migration, trafficking in human beings and the  exploitation of women and children, as well as on the harmonisation of relevant legal provisions of the European Union in relation to third countries. With regard to the domain of asylum, cooperation aims at harmonising standards for the admission of asylum seekers and procedural guarantees corresponding with the good practice of asylum proceedings in EU Member States. An Expert Working Group for information on countries of origin of asylum seekers operates within the Salzburg Group.” Structure. The Ministers of Interior of the member states (and their experts) meet several times per year. Since 1 July 2004 the SF has been  organized as a semi-annual presidency, which rotates in alphabetical order according to the English name of the member states. Until 1 July 2004 all the SF meetings were organized solely by Austria. Reconstructed timeline. 17–19 July 2003, Fuschl (Salzburg). At the fourth SF participants included not only the six members, but also Antonio Vitorino (EU Commissioner for JHA) and Giuseppe Pisanu (EU Council's President, Minister of Interior of Italy). This was the first time that the President of the European Council has participated in the SF meeting. The key points of the meeting were: Austrian Presidency, 1st half  year, 2004. 26 January 2004, Vienna. At a meeting between the American Attorney General John Ashcroft and the Austrian interior minister Ernst Strasser, the Austrian minister used the opportunity to point out insofar the European security is concerned Austria's place as a bridge between the western and eastern European countries and their task to connect these states, especially the SF countries to the USA. He also talked about the goals of SF, like a "European police force" (the so-called Euro cops), the implementation of the Solana Paper, the West Balkan Strategy, the training workshop for air marshals, and  the fight against drug trade in the countries of Central Asia and the Caucasus, which are significant for transit to Austria. A future visit at SF meeting by an USA representative was also mentioned. 15 April 2004, Vienna. Interior ministers of 11 current (6 of them that time still future) members of the European Union met for informal talks to discuss common security and immigration issues during which Austria submitted a six-point security plan. Austria Interior Ministry spokesman Rudolf Gollia said the talks would take place in Vienna between the five largest EU states—Britain, France, Germany, Italy and  Spain—and the six-nation Salzburg Group, comprising the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia and Austria itself. Austria's Interior Minister Ernst Strasser outlined six proposals to share information and coordinate measures taken to improve security in Europe, in the wake of the 11 March train bombings in Madrid in which killed 191 people. Strasser's six-point plan included access to a European finger-printing databank, exchanges of information about people seeking visas and about travellers, improved cooperation between Interpol and its European equivalent Europol, new biometric information in passports and standardised security at EU airports. After the  Madrid attacks, Austria called for the establishment of a new intelligence service dubbed "a European CIA", but ran into opposition from France and Germany. The ministers also discussed the status of refugees which had just been harmonised by the EU despite criticism from aid and rights organisations. Hungarian Presidency, 2005 1st half year. January, 2005 Warsaw. The ministers of foreign affairs of SF countries met for the fifth times in Warsaw to discuss the actual political matters in Ukraine, and the further relationship between the EU and Ukraine. The ministers also talked about the future EU relationship between the EU  countries and the West-Balkan countries, the bases of the EU neighbour politics, the humanitarian aid, and the consular collaboration. 21–22 April 2005, Budapest. During the first half of 2005 Hungary presided over the SF, that time consisted of the Ministers of the Interior of Austria, Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia, and Slovenia. The program of the 22 April 2005, meeting of the Forum included, inter alia, enlarging the 6 Forum to Romania and Bulgaria, cooperating to protect witnesses, sharing reliable information on the country of origin in asylum procedures, and preparing to implement the Schengen Convention standards, the Visa  Information System, and biometrics. The Hungarian Minister of Interior has put forward the idea of connecting Eurodac (the EU database on asylum seekers and illegal aliens) to criminal records, an idea that was fully supported by the five other ministers and was proposed to the EU. Under the Hungarian freedom of information legislation HCLU obtained a note from the Hungarian Minister of Interior issued by the Hungarian Deputy State Secretary of International Affairs of the Ministry of Interior, July 2005. "(unofficial translation)" Subject: summary on the Hungarian presidency of the Salzburg Forum Cooperation in the area of traffic control. The  ministers of interior discussed how to make regional cooperation more efficient, topics included the highway patrol, highway security and the small border traffic, together with the expectations of the Schengen Agreement. The cooperation in the area of traffic control began on 22 April 2005 with the meeting of the ministers of interior in Budapest. In advance at the meeting of experts at the Ministry of Interior an agreement had been concluded about the necessity of the cooperation which specified the fields of cooperation and given concrete suggestions of the minister's meeting. From the Hungarian side, the following suggestions were  introduced concerning the traffic control: At the ministers of interior meeting in Budapest an agreement was concluded about the establishment of a "traffic control contact network" through the SF countries, which would help the daily share of information and the professional experiences, plus the experts exchange. This would be the beginning of all the actions, which would help to reach further goals. On Slovakian initiative the ministers also agreed on common traffic controls. The first action called "Hawk" was made 6–11 June 2005 with great success. This was the first common traffic control action made by 6 EU countries. The  second action was at the end of July 2005, which was organized by the Hungarian police. After the success of these actions, if the ministers approve this suggestion the further traffic control actions would be organized, coordinated and evaluated by the Hungarian police department of traffic control according to the preliminary agreement of the international partners. Next to the common traffic controls personal discussions and professionals meetings are needed in every year or half year. (The above-mentioned suggestions were realized at the next meeting of ministers of interior in Graz at 28–29 July 2005. Hungary took on the execution  of the future traffic control actions, and Poland, under its half year of presidency of the SF, would plan the meeting of experts.) Polish Presidency, 2005 2nd half year. 28–29 July 2005, Graz. As the Polish Ministry of Interior and Administration reported “Another meeting of the Salzburg Group took place in Graz (Austria) on 28 and 29 July 2005. The Ministry of the Interior and Administration of Poland was represented by the Undersecretary of State, Mr Paweł Dakowski. The Ministers of the Interior of Austria, Poland, Hungary, Slovakia, Slovenia, Czech Republic and Romania as well as the E.U Commissioner, Mr.  Franco Frattini and the Director General of the International Organisation for Migration (IOM), Mr Brunson McKinley discussed issues connected with: Romania became an official member of the Group. Ministers adopted Declaration. Minister Paweł Dakowski introduced main priorities of the Polish Presidency in the Salzburg Group. The priorities are: Co-ordination of efforts in the area of road traffic patrol and safety on roads.“ 19 October 2005, Warsaw. Another consultation was on 19 October 2005 in Warsaw, where the Romanian and Bulgarian representatives of traffic police were present too. The reason of this consultation was the development of the regional road  regulation coordination, the determination of the main risks in traffic security, and the development of the common traffic campaigns. The Hungarian side proposed four common actions executions for the year of 2006 in Warsaw (April - drugs and alcohol check, May - safety belt check, September - traffic control of trucks, October - speeding control). November 2005, Warsaw. The Czech Ministry of Interior reported that “An Expert Working Group for information on countries of origin of asylum seekers operates within the Salzburg Group. Its first meeting was held in November 2005 in Warsaw. This meeting identified common priorities of participating states with regard to  the countries of origin of asylum seekers arriving in the states of the Salzburg Forum. The participants discussed also issues of closer regional cooperation in collecting information on the countries of origin in relation to the objectives setting in this respect by the Hague Programme.” Slovakian Presidency, 2006 1st half year. 22–23 May 2006, Bratislava. At the meeting of the ministers of interior of the SF countries the question of the European cooperation in protection of witnesses was not solved, although the EU countries decided long ago to make it possible for the protected witnesses and their families to start  a new life in another country. The solution failed because of the problem of the biometric parts of the documents like finger prints and pictures. The ministers also discussed the financing of the Eastern EU borders, and the new European traffic control actions. Slovenian Presidency, 2006 2nd half year. 27–28 July 2006, Göttweig. The SF meeting in Göttweig was the first time when at a meeting of the group Croatia took part as an observer. The eubusiness.com reported “Interior Ministers from eight Central European countries demanded on Friday that new EU members be quickly allowed into the Schengen border-free  zone. The ministers of the "Salzburg Group" countries (plus Croatia), demanded that the sophisticated computer system SIS II, intended to ensure the safety of the borderfree zone, be rapidly implemented after long delays. This system should be "completed in a timely fashion... in order to lift internal border controls as soon as possible," they said in a declaration, citing their own efforts to improve border controls in accordance with Schengen. European Union Justice Commissioner Franco Frattini had said the EU's newest members would join the Schengen unified visa system in March 2008 at the earliest, instead of autumn 2007 , because of technical problems. Countries within the Schengen zone eliminated their internal borders in 1995 but reinforced controls on their external borders with the Strasbourg-based Schengen Information System (SIS). SIS relies on the authorities (police, courts and customs offices) of the 15 Schengen states but does not have the capacity to absorb the 10 members who joined the EU in 2004, as well as Switzerland which joined Schengen last year, according to Brussels, making the second-generation SIS necessary. The Salzburg Group countries, which want to act as a counterbalance to the large EU members on issues of justice  and the police, also agreed to reinforce DNA data exchanges to fight crime, Austrian Interior Ministry spokeswoman Iris Mueller-Guttenbrunn said.” 25 October 2006, Brdo. The Slovenian Ministry of the Interior summarized that “Representatives of the Ministries of the Interior of Austria, Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia, Bulgaria, Romania and Slovenia met today at Brdo near Kranj within the framework of the Salzburg Forum. On behalf of Slovenia, which on 1 July 2006 took over the presidency of the Forum, Minister Mate had invited the ministers to hold a discussion on the future strategy and manner of operation of the  Forum as well as on the programme and priorities of Slovenia’s EU presidency. Additionally, ministers reviewed the activities of the existing working groups and discussed the final confirmation of leadership of individual working groups assumed by the member countries. At the press conference, the Minister of the Interior of the Republic of Austria Liese Prokop and the Minister of the Interior of the Republic of Slovenia Dragutin Mate summed up that the Salzburg Forum nowadays represents a respectable group of countries endeavouring to promote common interests within the EU, assisting each other and cooperating in various fields. During today ’s meeting, they discussed the need to cooperate with other countries in the repression of organised crime, terrorism and illegal migration. The Portugal’s proposal of setting up the system »SISone4all« or »SIS I+«, which represents an alternative solution for the new EU Member States in joining the Schengen Area, featured high on the agenda. As Minister Mate said, Slovenia’s access to the Schengen database depends on the opinion of the EU Justice and Home Affairs Council, which will decide on eventual implementation of the system SIS I+ at its meeting this December. »The 25 EU Member States must  receive complete assurance that the system will provide the highest security standards, that it will be tested and technically adequate« replied Minister Liese Prokop when asked when we can expect entry into the Schengen area without internal borders.” “Before the informal meeting of the JHA Council, in Tampere (Finland) Slovenia, in its capacity as the presiding country of the Salzburg Forum, organised a meeting of Salzburg Forum Member States which was mostly aimed at exchanging views on the new schedule of implementing SIS II. Slovenian Minister of the Interior Dragutin Mate reiterated the concerns and dissatisfaction expressed at the meeting  between the current presidency and future presiding states of the Council of the European Union over the current situation and appealed to Salzburg Forum states to seek alternative solutions that would enable access to Schengen databases irrespective of future development of SIS II. The Czech Republic agreed with the suggested approach in principle whereas the rest of the SF Member States supported further development of SIS II and appealed to the Commission to provide more transparency, mostly by submitting regular reports on the current state of affairs in SIS II development to the Council of Ministers. In the context of  the debates on delayed SIS II implementation and, subsequently, abolition of internal borders, the Slovenian Minister of the Interior Dragutin Mate drew attention to a great financial burden that will be shouldered on, mostly, new Member States. Ministers of the Salzburg Forum wrote a letter to Vice-President Frattini and the Finnish chairperson. The letter called upon the current EU presidency and the Commission to come up with solutions to help overcome financial implications of the delay until entering the Schengen area by either considering the 2007-2013 financial instruments or establishing a special financial instrument for that purpose.” 4  October 2006. The development of the Schengen Information System, the visa policy, the function of the European Union Fundamental Rights Agency, the criminal protection of the intellectual property were among the discussed topics of the meeting. The member states paid greater attention to the review of the Hague Programme. Austrian Presidency, 2007 1st half year. 12–13 July 2007, Innsbruck. This meeting dealt with the enlargement of the Schengen area, and the European Football Championship, which will be organized by Austria this time. The Hungarian minister introduced the actions, which have been taken to achieve full membership in the Schengen area : the technical developments, the training of the personal staff, the police's integration, and believed that the Hungarian accession will not increase the illegal immigration and organized crime in Austria. He also indicated that the Hungarian police is ready to monitor the Hungarian fans, who will travel to the Championship, to keep up the public order. Moreover, he mentioned all the measures to be demanded on the Hungarian side, when Austria will set back the frontier control during the Championship. They also discussed the SF's future foreign strategy, the future of the European internal/interior politics from 2010, the  possibility of making a European Information Net. A Common Declaration was signed by the participants including all these matters (http://www.bmi.gv.at/bmireader/documents/430.pdf). In the second semester of 2007 “Bulgaria took up the Presidency of the Salzburg Forum, which unites the countries from Central Europe. This country will work for the further confirmation of the Forum as a regional mechanism for exchange of information and coordinating positions in the sphere of internal affairs within the EU; as well as for encouraging common interests, the Ministry of Home Affairs announced. Bulgaria’s presidency of the Forum would focus on the development of the “external  dimension” of the Salzburg Forum and the enhancement of cooperation with the countries of the Western Balkans. The first one of the basic political goals of the Bulgarian Presidency of the Salzburg Forum is the enhancement of exchange among member-countries in the sphere of internal affairs, said at a news conference Bulgarian Interior Minister Rumen Petkov. The Salzburg Forum was created by the countries of Central and East Europe for the building of common positions and policies in the sphere of justice and internal order. During its presidency Bulgaria will work for the deepening of police cooperation through the  creation of operative relations, a system for information exchange in real time and the working out of a common database.“ Austrian Presidency, 2007 2nd half year. 20–21 September 2007, Pleven. This meeting established the Group of Friends of Salzburg Forum from the Western Balkans. The function of this group was to promote dialogue and cooperation between the Salzburg Forum countries and third countries. "The cooperation between the Salzburg Forum and its Friends is based on a balanced and flexible approach, aiming to ensure maximum coordination and coherence in their joint activities, thus avoiding unduly duplication and overlap of efforts and  resources. The common goal of the Salzburg Forum countries and their Friends from Western Balkans is to enhance the level of security of their citizens and to contribute to the further stabilisation of the region. The additional strengthening of mutual trust is one of the most important prerequisites for an active and successful partnership. The Salzburg Forum countries will actively support their Friends from the Western Balkans on their way to European integration. They will also encourage and assist them in the adoption and effective implementation of European standards practices in the field of justice and home affairs, and more  specifically towards achieving the European security standards regarding fight against terrorism, organised crime, corruption, and illegal migration, building upon the results achieved so far." Other topics discussed by the Forum at Pleven meeting were the security of EU external borders, EU Migration Policy, and enhancing FRONTEX capacity. Czech Presidency, 2008. 15–16 May 2008, Prague. The Prague meeting of the SF was headed by principal quaestor Vasile-Gabriel Nita, Secretary of State, Head of the Schengen Department of the MIAR. In considering the external dimension of the Salzburg Forum, one of the key points addressed during this meeting was the decision  to support Romania and Bulgaria in their efforts to join the Schengen territory. There were also approached questions regarding a possible European agreement in the area of Immigration and Asylum. The prevention of road traffic accidents was also discussed. The future of the Schengen system was also addressed. At the conclusion of the meeting, the presiding country of the Salzburg Forum, the Czech Republic, presented the priorities of its EU Council Presidency, while the ministers also discussed the conclusions and recommendations of the working parties operating within the Salzburg Forum. The meeting concluded with a discussion on the development and  implementation of the second-generation Schengen information system (SIS II) and on the potential for further enlargement of the Schengen area. The future. Apparently the SF continues its work at least until the Schengen Agreement implementation by Romania and Bulgaria. Although originally Austria has forged the coalition to speed up the abolishment of the borders with its neighbours within the Schengen framework, now the SF rises above the original plan both geographically and in scope of its activities. According to the Austrian Federal Minister of Interior the members of the SF are powerful together (now that the coalition comprises eight  EU states), but he has not substantiated his statement and it is unlikely that he will succeed in that in the near future. Calendar. Forthcoming presidencies of the Salzburg Forum: Czech Republic: 1st half of 2008 Hungary: 2nd half of 2008 Poland: 1st half of 2009 Romania: 2nd half of 2009 Slovakia: 1st half of 2010 Slovenia: 2nd half of 2010 Austria: 1st half of 2011 Sources. 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