My internship at the Association of European Election Officials (ACEEEO)

It is said that life isn’t about finding Yourself, life is about creating Yourself. After graduation from the Vytautas Magnus University completing Bachelor’s degree in Political science and diplomacy I decided to gain international experience related with my studies. Thanks to Partners 4 Value Consortia I was able to secure two months internship at the Association of European Election Officials in Hungary. Budapest is unlike any city in Eastern Europe. More cosmopolitan than Prague, more romantic than Warsaw and more beautiful than both. Time spent during my internship in Budapest helped me to gain practical experience in line with my existing and new interests.

The Association, which intern I was, is seeking to provide a non-partisan forum, independent of national governments. For the exchange of information ACEEEO organizes annual conference. This year conference will be held in Chișinău, Molova. For this instance secretariat of organization is prepearing annual booklet „ Elections in Europe“ for members of organization and for all those who are interested in it. Each year for electoral management bodies and their assistance during the conference are arranged trainings. This year the trainings will be organized with the main topics: equality of voters, participation of national minorities and gender‘s equality. Seeking to collect all information related with these topics, as an intern, I observed Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights and Council of Europe‘s European Commission for Democracy through Law final reports. Also I was tasked with the monitoring of election-related news of the members of the Association. The big opportunity that I was provided during the internship was to be exposed to the variety of different approaches to the elections and the democratic procedures of it‘s member states in general. Internship at the ACEEEO deepened my understanding not only about the Central and Eastern European countries elections, their systems but also about interconections between the member states of the Association and their impact to national government policy. During this internship I had an opportunity to work with the perfect colleagues who were very friendly and helpful all the time.

Opportunity to explore new culture, tradition and local people during this internship was very crucial for getting a start. I spent amazing time in Budapest with amazing people in both working and getting essential experience.