UNDP PRESENTED NEW QUARTERLY ON DEVELOPMENT AND TRANSITION
On 18 November 2005, UNDP presented the second issue of new quarterly Development and Transition: Migration and Minorities newsletter at the Regent Hotel Esplanade, Zagreb. Kalman Mizsei, UN Assistant Secretary General and UNDP Regional Director for Europe and CIS, and Ben Slay, Director of the UNDP Bratislava Regional Centre, highlighted the need for nuanced discussion on these sensitive issues in their introductionary note at the newsletter launch.
This need was recognized also by the local and international experts, including state officials, diplomatic representatives, as well as the representatives of NGOs and national minorities which, by their participation and attendance, contributed to the quality of debate. The debate opened issues like the status of Roma in Croatia and Europe, asylum, definition of social inclusion, migration, etc.
"Recent developments in France remind us how unpopular the free movement of peoples can sometimes be," pointed out Mr. Mizsei. "Let us not forget, however, that the economic arguments for the free movement of peoples are even more compelling than they are for the free movement of goods and services."
Development and Transition newsletter came into existence in July this year as a result of joint initiative by the UNDP and London School of Economics (LSE), and it aims at providing a forum for policy-oriented discussion on various development topics. In the second issue presented in Zagreb, the discussed topics included migration and minorities in Southeast Europe, international migration in the new EU member states, Kosovo's unresolved status etc.
Croatia
