The first day of the visit was almost completely dedicated to NATO. The DA1 participants visited NATO Headquarters in Brussels, where they heard a lot of very interesting lectures. Among the speakers was also the ambassador to NATO, Mr. Jiří Šedivý and General Major. Miroslav Žižka. The students were introduced to problems and topics important for the Permanent Delegation of the Czech Republic to NATO. The discussion also dealt with the recent challenges for NATO, i.e. the security situation in Ukraine, mission in Afghanistan and Mediterranean dialogue.

The second day was dedicated to visiting the most important EU institutions. The program included visits to the European Parliament, Council of the European Union and European Commission. The students found the lecture given by the Czech member of the European Parliament, Mr. Tomáš Zdechovský, very interesting and inspirational as he familiarized them with his agenda and schedule. At the end of the day the DA1 participants discussed various topics with Czech officials seconded to the European External Action Service.

One of the highlights of the study trip was meeting the Permanent Representative to the EU, Ambassador Martin Povejšil and the Ambassador of the Czech Republic in Belgium Jaroslav Kurfürst. During this meeting, the students learned a lot about the representation of the Czech Republic abroad on both the bilateral and multilateral level. These lectures were followed by an introduction to lobbying and how it functions in the EU, given by the former secretary general of the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association, Mr. Ivan Hodač. The internship was finished by the fruitful debate with Mr. Jan Jařab, the representative of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights.