For the fall semester of 2020 I had my internship with the Swedish Ministry for Foreign Affairs (MFA) at the Department for Eastern Europe and Central Asia (EC). It’s safe to say that it was the best semester I’ve had while studying. To apply, you first of all need to be a Swedish citizen. You apply through the government’s website where all its internships are posted, and after you’ve sent your CV and Cover Letter you will hopefully be selected for an interview. While the EC department is the most relevant for our program, the MFA has many different departments to apply for. There’s the Department for Agenda 2030, the Department for Human rights, and the Department for European Security policy to name three others. The MFA will also open up its embassy internships again when Covid-19 has stopped closing borders. All of these departments work with questions that our program, or your previous studies, have prepared you for. During my internship I got to work with the Deputy Director for Trade Promotion in the region and with humanitarian aid to the region.
So, what were my assignments? Well, with the Trade Promoter I had specific documents to write. However, I got to decide the layout myself. I wrote several analyses on Sweden’s bilateral trade with the countries in the region. I also wrote speaking points for ministers and helped organise business meetings with Swedish companies who are active in the region (with up to 120 participants!). For the group working with directed aid to the region I got to assist in the assessment of different projects. I also helped organise a meeting for the Swedish Minister for Aid. Besides all of this, me and the department’s two other interns got to help with Sweden’s work in EU concerning the region.
All in all, I’ve walked away with a diverse set of experiences. I’ve learned a lot about the internal structure of the Swedish MFA as well as the Swedish Government Offices in general, but also about the EU and bilateral diplomacy. I’ve also learned a lot about myself and what I’m capable of achieving. The MFA places a lot of responsibility on you but they are always there to help. So not only have I learned about government structure and diplomacy. After this internship I’ve learned to trust myself with new, unfamiliar and seemingly very hard tasks, because I know I can do it! When I met the other interns, I noticed that people came from diverse backgrounds. There were people studying everything from Political Science Bachelor’s to the Master’s programme in Human Rights. One thing that many of us had in common was that most interns where from Uppsala University.
This is something you too can take advantage of when you apply for an internship or job just about anywhere. I’m an economist, so naturally I’ve been doing economist stuff such as analysing bilateral trade. However, there is something for everyone! My fellow interns at the department have a background in Middle Eastern area studies and law studies respectively. They got to work with questions that made use of, and that let them apply, the knowledge that they carried with them from their previous studies.
Our programme gives us specialised and generalised knowledge which is highly sought after in foreign policy analysis. Applying for anything foreign policy related with our programme and Uppsala University backing you up should definitely increase your chances of getting it. Lastly, I can highly recommend interning for the Swedish MFA. It’s an organisation with a fantastic work culture and which will stimulate and develop your knowledge of whatever field you’re into. Soon, I’m off to work 6 months at the Swedish Embassy in Minsk before writing my thesis.
Best of luck to all students at IRES!
Daniel Meleaku