Young Bosnian girls Suzana Nikic and Hana Curak are gaining their knowledge about the functioning of German democracy through a five-month-long internship in Bundestag. They are part of the scholarship program of the Parliament of Germany, which gathers around 100 young people from 40 countries every year.
Suzana was invited on an internship with representatives of Angela Merkel’s Christian-conservative party CDU. Therefore, she already had the opportunity to see German Chancellor on several occasions.
“I am visiting internal party congresses where Merkel even tells jokes sometimes. It is a quite different picture from what we usually see on TV and in the news,” said Suzana.
Other representatives surprised her with their relaxed behavior as well.
“That is something that always fascinates me. You can meet MPs in the elevator and talk to them normally. The fact that fascinated me is how much ordinary people they actually are. They are not trying to present themselves as someone who is above other people, or someone who has so much power,” she noted.
Hana and Suzana noted that most of other practitioners of the Bundestag, although educated and successful people have the wrong image of BiH.
“A surprising number of our colleagues thought that there is still war in BiH and that we cannot walk around in peace, they were asking if Yugoslavia still exists. People have a much-distorted image of BiH,” said Suzana.
Within the practice, Suzana and Hana will present BiH to MPs of the Bundestag, and ambassadors of the countries from which other practitioners are coming. Stands of all countries that are participating in the IPS program will be set up on the large reception at the premises of the Bundestag. Hana already has a plan for this occasion.
“I am looking forward to give Bosnian honey, rahat lokum and other Bosnian products as a gift to my MP, because she is a member of the Parliamentary committee for agriculture and food, and I think that’s a good diplomatic tool,” said Hana.
At the moment, both of them wish to enroll master studies in Berlin, and they would like to contribute to changes in BiH later, especially in the sector of education.
(Source: faktor.ba)
