Katrin Johansson, a liaison officer tells about behind the scenes work.
UKIE: How does an every day of a liaison officer during the Presidency look like?
Every day, and every minute, and every delegation is different. Every meeting is different so nothing, nothing is the same. The only thing you can be certain of is that somebody is going to come and that you will have meetings.
UKIE: And as a liaison officer, you are responsible for…?
For the minister and for the delegation, mostly the minister. The job is first of all about representing Sweden and representing the Presidency in a way when you meet and greet them at the airport, from their very first step in Sweden and then taking care of them and being able to support them when they are here, in Sweden.
UKIE: What is the most challenging thing in your work?
The most challenging thing is probably that you have to be flexible. You might have a plan and you might have it very structured but everything can change. You have to be very flexible about everything. But it depends on the EU organization and on a dynamics of events as it can be, for instance that “they are coming at a certain hour but they are not”, “they are leaving at a certain hour but they are not”, “they are leaving now or soon”.
UKIE: What gives you most satisfaction?
After everything is well-done, they are happy and they leave with a smile on their face and it feels as if they had a good stay in Sweden.
UKIE: Was it difficult to be selected? What do you need to know or what did you need to do in order to become a liaison officer?
The interviews were very hard. There were two different interviews with people from the staff when they put a lot of pressure on you to be able to tackle stressful situations. That was the most important thing. You have to be flexible and you have to show a certain modesty, if you understand what I mean. You have to be sometimes in the background- you just stand around and wait, you do not want to be in the spotlight yourself. The interviews were very difficult and I was very happy when I was selected.
UKIE: Have you ever had to handle any crisis situation during your work? Something has changed and you had to manage it?
Yes, definitely. It happens quite often: somebody has left documents on an airplane, or in a car she/he took, or a transport did not show up on time or it never came…
UKIE: How do you usually handle situations like that?
We always have somebody who we can call depending on what a situation concerns. If it is a transportation - it is a transportation group. And if it is something else, we talk to our supervisors. We always have different work paths, so depending on a situation we know who to contact. You know, you just have to think fast.
UKIE: What advice would you give to people who would like to work as liaison officers during the Polish Presidency?
It is a hard question. I think the most important thing is that you like to meet new people and you are a flexible person. The point is that you do not succumb to pressure and you like to render good service to people and to meet new people.
UKIE: How did you personally come up with the idea of applying for the Presidency?
In my case it was during my internship at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs when I got to know that they were looking for liaison officers for the Presidency.
UKIE: Thank you.
*A liaison officer is responsible for a complex care of a delegation from a given Member State or another state participating in summits and meetings organized by the Presidency. S/he accompanies a delegation on its way to and from meeting’s venue, supervises logistic services for the delegation, coordinates its contacts with journalists, systematically provides information concerning timetable, venues of meetings, possible changes in the program and the like.