Placement: Center for European Policy Analysis (CEPA), Washington D.C.: September 14, 2017 – January 3, 2018
Right on his first week, László had the chance to dive in the work of CEPA and participate in the institute’s biggest conference, the leading annual transatlantic security conference in Washington DC, the 9th CEPA Forum that took place on September 21-22, 2017. László’s responsibilities at CEPA mainly focused on research of various topics, mostly Russian influence on the Western Balkans as well as attending public hearings, and participating in several roundtable discussions or seminars. He was also involved in the memory project of CEPA, which attempted to emphasize and introduce events from times of socialism in the Eastern Bloc, which were meaningful in either a positive or negative sense. László was also instrumental in helping the Coalition with its preparations for the annual Mikulás Dinner and its Annual and Board Meetings.
“Working at CEPA gave me a lot when it comes to pure knowledge and connections but there is one more thing that is notable. The American work attitude I was acquainted with differs in some aspects from the European, which I am used to. In the US, researchers are rather keen on starting the exploration with the problem itself and they try to find solutions. This approach prevails not only in their research work but also in everyday office situations, where the quest for a solution is prioritized over looking at the reasons behind a problem.”
László Szerencsés has recently finished his graduate studies in Global Political Economy at the University of Kassel, Germany with the scholarship of the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD). He also holds an undergraduate degree in International Relations from Budapest Business School. After successfully managing a student organization called Global Youth Diplomacy in Budapest, he became an intern at the Cabinet of the State Secretary for Cultural and Science Diplomacy at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade in Hungary in early 2015, and during his studies in Kassel he also did an internship at the Embassy of Hungary in Berlin, Germany in the summer of 2016. Afterwards, under the umbrella of the European Academy of Diplomacy (EAD), he was engaged with research in the field of refugees in Europe, especially in the V4 countries.