Protocols on cooperation of the MFA with 15 faculties signed

07. Oct 2021.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Serbia, Nikola Selaković, and representatives of 15 faculties from six state universities signed the Protocols on Cooperation today in the Ministry between the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and those higher education institutions.

The Minister thanked the present representatives of the academic community, emphasizing that the faculties with which the Protocols were signed today are the first with which this type of cooperation is established, and conveyed that it has been determined that the 10 best final year students of these faculties will be admitted to professional practice at the MFA, a total of 150 of them.

According to the Minister, the goal is to create a staff from those students who would start working at the MFA, but who would also one day be among the decision-makers at the MFA, and in Serbia as well.

He added that this is an indicator of how important the link between the state and state universities is, but he also said that those universities whose founder is not the Republic of Serbia will not be left aside.

"Today, our country is the founder of six universities, whose mission is to educate young people and engage in science, but the original idea to educate those who will lead Serbia must never be lost", Selaković said, addressing those present.

The Minister also said that in cooperation with the Ministry of Education, it will be possible for students from the most remote places to have accommodation in one of the student dormitories in Belgrade during their professional practice.

"We want to improve the quality of staff at the MFA and to use strategic personnel planning", Selaković said, adding that today's signing is just one of the steps to build a new image of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, emphasizing that the goal is for the MFA to become the point that will attract the young, academic elite of our people and state.

Dean of the University of Belgrade Faculty of Law, Zoran Mirković, emphasized that the initiative for signing the protocol on cooperation came from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Minister Selaković, and that this is a great thing, primarily for students, but also for faculties of social and humanistic profile themselves.

He reminded of the founding of the Great School from the First Serbian Uprising on 31 August 1808, and of the importance attached to education in insurgent Serbia, despite the fact that a large number of insurgents were illiterate. Mirković also said that Karađorđe pointed out that there is a need to educate young people to perform civil service.

"We are glad that the Protocols have been signed, which will bring multiple benefits. Our students will be able to do professional practice, they will have the opportunity to get a job at the Ministry, and the MFA will also get the best staff", Mirković concluded.

The protocols were signed with the Faculty of Economics, Law, Faculty of Organizational Sciences, Faculty of Political Science and Faculty of Philology of the University of Belgrade, Faculty of Economics, Law and Faculty of Philology and Arts of the University of Kragujevac, University of Nis Faculty of Economics and Law, University of Novi Sad Faculty of Economics and Law, University of Pristina Faculty of Economics and Law with temporary headquarters in Kosovska Mitrovica and the State University in Novi Pazar.