National Assembly Secretary General Veljko Odalovic presented the students, seniors of various faculties of humanities, who had last year taken the National Assembly’s Student Practice Programme, with diplomas.

Greeting all present, National Assembly Speaker Prof. Dr Slavica Djukic-Dejanovic expressed her belief that some of the interns would one day sit on the parliamentary benches or provide strong professional help to future MPs.

USAID Director in Serbia, Susan Fritz said that the Serbian Parliament has a long tradition of internship programmes, adding that this was the first generation of interns supported by the American organisation.

The programme was realised in cooperation with NDI who fully supports and helps the students gain practical experience. NDI Director in Serbia, Thomas Kelly said that over 300 candidates had applied for the programme but only 24 of the best students were selected.

Secretary General Veljko Odalovic was pleased to say that the best student interns were engaged in various activities at the National Assembly in the period when it completed considerable work on harmonising domestic and EU legislation. He thanked the interns for their cooperation, adding that the National Assembly doors are open to their further interests and efforts. Odalovic briefed the guests on the publication Comparative Analysis of the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia and Five EU Parliaments (Germany, Slovakia, Slovenia, Austria and the UK) that the interns prepared during their practice.

On the behalf of the interns, Ana Marija Popovic thanked everyone who made the realisation of the programme possible stressing that in the nine months spent at the Assembly the students gained considerable skills and knowledge and hoped that in future they would all strive to make Serbia a better place.

The National Assembly’s internship programme was launched in 2003 and so far more than 100 students have taken and completed the practice.