SFS-Q Student Interns at the European Parliament in Brussels

Georgetown University School of Foreign Service in Qatar (SFS-Q) secured a summer 2012 internship at the European Parliament in Brussels for one of its third-year students, Loukas Kyprianou. The outstanding Cypriot student was chosen for the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, despite the fact that his age did not fulfill the minimum requirement for the internship at the European Parliament in Brussels.

“They told me I was chosen because I was studying at a world-renown institution for political studies which is of great importance in a region”, Loukas said. The combination of receiving a first-rate education at SFS-Q, as well as its location in Qatar added valuable weight to Loukas candidacy.

As part of the internship, Loukas worked with one of the highest-ranking members of the Cypriot delegation to the European People’s Party (EPP) Member of the European Parliament (MEP) Ioannis Kasoulides, who previously held the positions of Member of Cypriot Parliament, Government Spokesperson and Minister of Foreign Affairs. Through this experience, Loukas is now able to secure a job with the Cypriot embassy in Qatar.

Loukas earned the “stagiaire” title throughout his internship in Brussels and was able to take part in important processes of the European Parliament. He attended various sessions on Arab matters, from meeting with Syrian Opposition meetings and Arab Spring Affairs such as Egyptian election in July 2012.

Loukas was especially thrilled to attend a committee session on the infamous Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA). “I got to propose amendments for resolutions in the two committees I was assigned to, the Foreign Affairs Committee and the International Trade Committee” he said.

“I was actively involved, especially in research on specific resolutions tabled within the two committees”. One of the aspects that struck Loukas as the most fascinating was the resemblance between the formal EU sessions and the discussions in the SFS-Q classrooms. “The discussion and themes in the sessions sounded exactly like those that take place in our classes; I was able to relate to it all. I never knew I would be able to relate to the whole situation and apply my knowledge and SFS-Q education to this extent. It was amazing” he explained.

Following Cyprus taking the presidency of the Council of the European Union, a job vacancy in the Embassy of the Republic of Cyprus opened. Loukas had had the opportunity to meet the ambassador to Qatar, Ambassador Charalambos Panayides in two accounts, both through SFS-Q, he had met him initially at SFS-Q’s Model United Nations conference, in which Loukas was participating, and at SFS-Q’s Diplomatic Ball.

With the job vacancy and the experience from his internship in Brussels, Loukas was offered the position to be the Ambassador’s Assistant for the six-month Cyprus EU Presidency, which began July 1st 2012 and will end on January 1st 2013.

“I am not just doing paperwork or filing”, Loukas said. “I am doing actual political and diplomatic work”. Loukas has been a right-hand to the ambassador; he has accompanied him to meetings with Qatari officials in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and to the monthly Head of Missions (HOMS) meeting with other EU ambassadors in Qatar.

“I now have the pleasure to be an official member of the delegation of Cyprus, which will be led by the Cypriot Minister of Agriculture, for the upcoming COP18”. Loukas will work as an Assistant to the Ambassador for the Cyprus EU presidency.

Loukas has expressed gratitude to SFS-Q as an educational institution that helped him secure a prestigious internship and an acclaimed job position, all before even completing his Bachelor’s degree.