Politics and International Relations students at Católica promote Conversations with Diplomats

With the aim of promoting closer contact between Ambassadors and students, as well as sharing experience, vision and knowledge, the Academic Association of the Institute for Political Studies (IEP) at Universidade Católica Portuguesa (UCP) organised the ‘Dialogues With Diplomats’ project.

Organised in partnership with the IEP and with the support of Ambassador Ana Martinho, the series of talks was attended by 10 Ambassadors and 1 Director of a European Agency.

‘We devised this initiative with the aim of strengthening the links between the students of the Institute for Political Studies and the world of diplomacy, providing them with a practical and engaging experience that enabled them to gain a broader understanding of the role and challenges faced by diplomats,’ explains João Vianna Dias, president of the Association.

From 14 February to 10 April, UCP's politics and diplomacy students were able to discuss topics such as the national politics of each country, bilateral relations between the country represented by each Ambassador and Portugal, and the current international context, with diplomats from all over the world.

According to Sebastião Camarinhas, a 2nd year student of the Political Science and International Relations degree at UCP, one of the participants in these sessions, Dialogues with Diplomats ‘was a magnificent lesson in the meaning of multilateralism and helped to deepen my knowledge, my belief in the system of diplomacy and my ambition to one day be part of the diplomatic corps myself’.

Serge Wauthier, Ambassador of Belgium, Indra McCormick, Ambassador of Australia, Alexis Goosdeel, Director of the European Agency EMCDDA, Cho Yeongmoo, Ambassador of the Republic of Korea, Élise Racicot, Ambassador of Canada, Raimundo Carreiro Silva, Ambassador of Brazil, Othmane Bahnini, Ambassador of the Kingdom of Morocco, Alma Ní Choigligh, Ambassador of the Republic of Ireland, Hélène Farnaud-Defromont, Ambassador of France, Fatoumata Binetou Correa, Ambassador of Senegal and Randi Charno Levine, Ambassador of the United States of America were the guest speakers at the series of talks.