Viktória Katona from Keszthely, Hungary arrived to Washington this spring and will spend 4 months at Center for European Policy Analysis (CEPA). With HIF’s support, the Hungarian American Coalition’s Internship Program will be hosting eight interns in 2018 to provide first-hand experience at various Washington-based institutions. Internship participants are also expected to complete a Coalition research project that enables them to become familiar with the Hungarian-American community.
Viktória Katona
Viktória’s host institution is CEPA, a non-profit policy institute dedicated to the study of Central and Eastern Europe with offices in Washington and Warsaw. Their mission is to promote an economically vibrant, strategically secure and politically free Central and Eastern Europe with close and enduring ties to the United States. CEPA is the leading voice on U.S. relations with Central and Eastern Europe. CEPA’s analytical team consists of the world’s leading experts on Central and Eastern Europe. Their analysts and fellows provide insights on developments in the region to government officials and agencies, major corporations and the international media.
Viktória Katona finished her graduate studies at Eötvös Loránd University, Faculty of Law in Budapest, Hungary, in February 2018, and graduated summa cum laude as a Juris Doctor. In 2016, she also spent one semester at National University of Ireland Galway, and in 2015 she completed a summer law school on International Trade Law at Yaşar University in Izmir, Turkey. She is interested in international law and energy policy.
Prior to her internship at CEPA, Viktória was a trainee at two different international law firms, Nagy & Trócsányi Law Firm in 2015 and DLA Piper Law Firm in 2018. During her active public work at the university, which was mainly focused on cultivating and expanding international relations, she was Vice-President for Foreign Affairs of the Student Union at the Department, and she was President of the Erasmus Student Network at the Faculty. Furthermore, she served as a demonstrator at the Department of International Law of her university.
Viktoria (right) at the Hungarian Embassy with CIP Program Coordinator Noemi Banhidi and Eva Lukonits
“In our globalized world, gaining international experience and exchanging of ideas have a great significance which can be particularly well-promoted in the field of foreign affairs. Therefore in the past few years I have been trying to work on cultivating and expanding international relations and opportunities at the university in order to urge young students to try themselves abroad, and make good use of their experiences and knowledge at home.”
Through assignments to think tanks and non-government organizations, CIP participants learn about the workings of both the U.S. government and the non-profit world. Their experience helps them establish contacts in the U.S. in their chosen field, and motivates them to enter public service in their country of origin.
“I hope that my active participation in university life and my experiences enable me to represent Hungary effectively while interning at CEPA.”