FIR graduates at the opening ceremony of the College of Europe

Yesterday’s opening ceremony of the next year of the College of Europe, the Madeleine Albright year, was attended by Matti Tetřev, a graduate of the International Politics and Diplomacy programme, alongside President Petr Pavel. Matti Tetřev graduated from the Faculty of International Relations in 2016. During his studies, he was an active member of the Junior Diplomat Initiative and the student PR team and also holds a Certificate in Economic Diplomacy for excellence in this minor. During his studies, he participated in an internship at the Permanent Mission of the Czech Republic to the United Nations in Vienna. After graduating from FMV, he completed his studies at the College of Europe in 2017.

Studying at the College of Europe was a key experience in my life. It’s very intense. From breakfast to the evening, we were all together all the time, and we normally had lectures on Saturdays and Sundays. You build up a huge network of contacts.

According to Hospodářské noviny, 340 people from 50 countries are studying in Bruges this year, and five Czech students are among them. On average, there are three Czechs studying here every year, but there have been academic years when there was not a single one at the College of Europe. This leaves the country at the tail end of the list of students compared to the countries of the former Eastern bloc. Poles regularly have over 20 students a year at the school, which generates experts for European institutions and multinational companies. The main reason for this is the cost of tuition fees, but the Czech state only provides scholarships to Bruges for civil servants.