The URJC leads the practices in Diplomacy

Nora Fernandez Fernandez

In the last calls for internships of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation (MAEUEC), 44 places were awarded to URJC students. This has made it the third university by number of places out of the 37 participants in the process, continuing the positive trend established in previous resolutions.

These calls include positions both in the central services of the Ministry and in different Spanish Representations abroad. The permanent four-month program is open to undergraduate and postgraduate students and gives them the opportunity to complete their training with this experience. The internships offered are unpaid and, in them, the student will come into contact with the tasks of the assigned departments. These will cover consular, cultural or commercial matters related to the European Union, regional conflicts and other current international matters.

The URJC has had an agreement with the MAEUEC since 2015, through which more than 400 students have carried out internships in different departments of the Ministry. These include destinations such as embassies or consulates in London, Paris, Buenos Aires, Melbourne or Seoul, as well as Spanish representations at the UN in New York or the OSCE in Vienna. The outstanding interest of the students in these calls translates into applications from students of International Relations, Political Science, Protocol, Economics, Journalism or Tourism, among others.

This collaboration, points out Mª Paz Matesanz, Head of Service of the External Practices and Employment Unit, "is complemented by the agreements that the URJC has promoted with entities such as the Institute of Foreign Trade (ICEX), which has an annual program of practices in which the Rey Juan Carlos is, traditionally, one of the centers that contributes the most participants; the Secretary of State for Migrations; the Cervantes Institute; or the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID), whose agreement is currently in the process of renewal”.