A joint meeting of the partner institutions Atlantic Academy, the State Chancellery of Rhineland-Palatinate, and the U.S. Forces Liaison Office in Mainz marked the farewell of this year's intern under the Rheinland-Pfalz Transatlantic Ambassador Internship Program (RP-TAIP), Margaret LaPré. 

"I am very pleased that the first year of the internship program to promote the German-American partnership has started successfully, even under pandemic conditions. Our first U.S. intern, Margaret LaPré, was able to complete all three scheduled stations at the Atlantic Academy in Kaiserslautern, the U.S. Forces Liaison Office in Mainz, and the State Chancellery - both online and in-person. How wonderful to be able to thank Margaret LaPré today personally for her work at the State Chancellery! My thanks also go to our partners Dr. David Sirakov, Director of the Atlantic Academy Rheinland-Pfalz e. V., as well as Steven Steiniger, U.S. Forces Liaison Officer, for the joint organization, the head of the State Chancellery, Fabian Kirsch, emphasized in Mainz.

"The collaboration with Margaret was an enrichment for all partner institutions and, despite the pandemic, an excellent start for the new internship program," said Atlantic Academy Director Dr. David Sirakov.

Launched by the state government and the Atlantic Academy, the RP-TAIP for Georgetown University students in Washington, D.C., will offer each year one master's student the opportunity to experience transatlantic cooperation hands-on in the field. "In this way, the young people will become ambassadors of German-American friendship. After the hybrid implementation due to the pandemic, we very much hope that we will be able to welcome the next candidate to Rheinland-Pfalz for the full duration of three months next year," said the head of the State Chancellery.