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Friday, 27 September, was the last day of internship at the Saeima for two German students – Melanie Frank and Sebastian Reiter. During the month-long internship the students had a chance to gather information for their research and to learn about the work of the Latvian parliament and MPs.

The German students declared that MPs opened up new perspectives and gave valuable insight into the subjects of their interest, as well as helped to learn more about Latvia. Furthermore, the students had a chance to actually see things about which they had been reading books or writing their papers.
 
Melanie Frank is a student at the University of Heidelberg in Germany, and during the internship she focused on citizenship and language policy in Latvia. Melanie has been studying the Latvian language since 2006; therefore, internship at the Saeima helped her to significantly improve her Latvian language skills. Sebastian Reiter, who is studying political science and European Union studies at the University of Cologne, learned more about the role of national parliaments in the European Union and foreign affairs.
     
During the internship, Melanie Frank and Sebastian Reiter met with Speaker Solvita Āboltiņa. Members of the Saeima Inese Lībiņa-Egnere (Reform Party), Viktors Valainis (unaffiliated MP), Atis Lejiņš (Unity), Ina Druviete (Unity), Lolita Čigāne (Unity) and Edvards Smiltēns (Unity) acquainted the students with the everyday work of the parliamentary groups and committees of the Saeima. During the internship, they also attended lectures at the University of Latvia.

Every year, the Saeima provides an opportunity for two German students to learn about the work of the parliament. Internships are conducted within the framework of the International Parliamentary Scholarship programme, and this is the third year that the Saeima is taking part in this programme. An internship is usually awarded to students who are interested in our country and parliamentary work, as well as have some preliminary knowledge about it.
 
The Bundestag has been conducting the International Parliamentary Scholarship programme (Internationales Parlaments-Stipendium) since 1986, and Latvian students have been able to participate in internships at the German parliament since 1992.


Photos from the meeting with the Speaker are available at: https://www.flickr.com/photos/saeima/sets/72157635939036464/
Video on the internship is available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_zgToJ0RCuQ     
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Saeima Press Service