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January 24, 2006
Fletcher students get privileged look inside EU, NATO on visit to Brussels
The chance to network with members of the European Parliament and NATO officials in private meetings were among the many highlights of a recent trip by students at The Fletcher School to Brussels, funded by an alumnus of the school.
The three-day event was sponsored by Giorgos Dimitrakopoulos, who is a Greek member of the European People’s Party in the European Parliament. Ten Fletcher students participated in the program, as did a similar number from the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.
“Euro-American cooperation is key to world stability, yet there is little understanding of each other on the two sides of the Atlantic,” said Fletcher Prof. Dimitris Keridis, the Constantine Karamanlis Associate Professor in Hellenic and Southeastern European Studies.
“Thus, a Fletcher field trip to Brussels has a multiplicity of purposes: to acquaint Fletcher students with the workings of the European Union and NATO, to support a transantlantic dialogue on issues of common concern and, ultimately, to enhance a new generation of Atlantic-minded policymakers both in the United States and Europe,” he said
The first two days consisted of briefings in the European Parliament on such topics as economic and monetary affairs and EU relations with Russia. The most prominent speaker was undoubtedly Olli Rehn, Commissioner for Enlargement. Rehn spoke about expanding EU membership and fielded questions from students from Romania, Turkey and Bulgaria—all countries seeking inclusion in the EU.
Day three was spent at NATO’s political headquarters. Officials there spoke about the future of the military alliance and its role in places like Afghanistan and the Balkans. Many students from NATO countries were able to meet with members of their country’s delegation.
“I found the trip to be an informative, interesting, behind the scenes look at the EU and NATO,” said first-year MALD student Katy Bondy from Marietta, Ga. “It was a great opportunity to get to know Brussels better, to explore Brussels.”
Outside of the EU and NATO program, impromptu visits were made to Greenpeace and the Romanian Information Office for those interested. Additionally, the Fletcher alumni group in Brussels arranged for a dinner to showcase the nightlife in Brussels.
“The alumni dinner was probably the most interesting aspect of the trip because you could see how strong the Fletcher alumni network is,” said Bondy, who took a class – War and the Politics of Ethnicity and Democracy: The Case of Southeastern Europe – taught by Prof. Keridis in the fall.
Students were treated to fine dining at both institutions, as well as an elegant dinner at the famous La Maison du Cygne, the restaurant where Karl Marx penned Das Kapital.
Prof. Keridis said he expects to make the trip to Brussels an annual event.
By Timothy R. Homan, MALD ‘07
Posted by fletcher at January 24, 2006 11:11 AM
