MOSCOW - DFA Undersecretary for Overseas Migrant Workers Affairs Jesus I. Yabes held consultations with key Russian officials to advance Philippine initiatives in the field of consular and assistance-to-nationals (ATN) cooperation, on 18 September in Moscow.

Undersecretary Yabes met separately with Mr. Konstantin Olegovich Romodanovsky, Director of the Federal Migration Service of the Russian Federation (FMS), and Mme. Liudmila Vorobiova, Director of the Third Asian Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA).

Undersecretary Yabes stressed the importance the Philippine government attaches to ATN as a matter of value and policy in view of the number of Filipinos spread all over the world, including in Russia. The Philippines is thus keen on establishing cooperative mechanisms that would allow both sides to address the consular needs of their respective nationals in each other’s territory, including victims of trafficking in persons, as well as those caught in conflict and other crisis situations in third countries.

Concretely, Undersecretary Yabes stated that the Philippines is looking at cooperation in terms of exchange of information on nationals in  distress; consular notification; assistance to victims of human trafficking; emergency evacuation of nationals in crisis areas; and regular consultations between Russian and Philippine authorities, among others.

FMS Director Romodanovsky thanked Undersecretary Yabes for the visit noting that official interactions at their level go a long way in strengthening overall bilateral relations. He gave a general overview of Russia’s views on labor migration and the ongoing refugee crisis in Europe. He underscored the importance of close coordination between labor-sending and receiving countries in order for migration to be mutually beneficial.

Director Romodanovsky stated they are seriously studying the Philippines’ proposals and expressed hope that their initiative on readmission will also be given due consideration by the Philippine side. He added that Russia’s new legislation requiring foreign workers to be proficient in the Russian language has just entered into force this year. Russia’s proposal to establish a Russian cultural center in Cebu that could offer language training programs will therefore beneficial to Filipinos.

Mme. Liudmila Vorobiova, Director of the Third Asian Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, for her part, stated that Russia views the Philippines as a promising partner in the Asia Pacific. She reaffirmed Russia’s willingness to expand relations with the Philippines to include the abovementioned areas, among others. She assured Undersecretary Yabes that they will try to fast track work on pending matters in view of the upcoming visit of H.E. Vladimir Putin to the Philippines for the APEC Economic Leaders Meeting on 18-19 November 2015.

Also in the meeting from the Philippine side were Ambassador Carlos D. Sorreta, OUMWA Executive Director Reynaldo Catapang, Third Secretary Luningning G. Camoying, OUMWA Principal Assistant Joel Peralta, and OUMWA Executive Assistant Wilfredo Macan.

The FMS side included Mr. Oleg Artamonov, Director for External Relations, Mr. Dmitry Demidenko,   Deputy Head of the Department of Foreign Citizens Affairs, Mr. Gennady Demianchenko, Deputy Director of the Department on Affairs of Citizenship and Residents, Sidoriak Nadezhda Vladimirovna,   Senior Inspector on special cases in the Department of External Relations, and Mr. Alexei Chernov, Section Head of Third Asian Department of the MFA.

Also in the meeting with Mme. Vorobiova at the Third Asian Department of the MFA were Mr. Anatoly Borovik, Deputy Director, Mr. Vasily Pronin, Head of the Asian Division of the Consular Department as well as First Secretaries Dmitry Yudin and Mr. Denis Kudryashov. END