Young European Federalists (JEF Europe) is a political organisation active in more than 35 countries in Europe which gathers around 30 000 members on local, regional, national and European level. The organisation tackles political issues and is the most important youth lobby group in the European Parliament, and European youth in this organisation shares the vision of a united and democratic Europe. The main goal of Young European Federalists in BiH is the country’s integration into the EU, promotion of the European federalism idea, decentralisation of the EU and encouraging youth activism and education.

President of Young European Federalists in BiH, Irma Omerović, spoke about their activities in the country, from whom they get support in their work and about their future goals and plans:

The idea of reestablishment and a new start of the activities of the national section of JEF BiH were born during the traditional event called “Balkan Training Days” (BTD) organised every year by the national sections from the Balkans. Few people from BiH participated in BTD in Podgorica, held in September 2013. Realising the importance and perspective, as well as the efficiency of the work of other sections, our members said “Why not?” to the challenge and started to work on reregistration and reorganisation of the section. Special motivation to continue the JEF BiH work we got from the successful activities and the work of the previous JEF BiH team that was unable to keep up adequate continuity due the personal paths of their members.

The focus of the organisation is to encourage the younger generation to reflect on the importance of European integration and European values in our country. How successful are you and how acquainted is the youth in our country with this topic?

Our members participating in international seminars and conferences organized by JEF successfully manage to transmit the real and the factual situation when it comes to attitudes of young people in BiH on Europe, and to the same extent are grappling with the politics of Europe in relation to BiH and the region, and vice versa. Also, the importance of awakening consciousness of young people in BiH, as the group that is the bearer of the society of the future, on the topics of Europe and the importance of integration is evident. Especially in recent years since BiH is not progressing or is doing poorly in this context.

Who encourages and supports the work of the organization to continue its work in the future? To what extent does the EU Delegation to BiH help in realizing your plans?

Members of JEF BiH belong to the student population, with great zeal and enthusiasm for work, promotion, and implementation of our ideas into practice. Our first contact and presentation of the work of our section in BiH was in one of the most important institutions focusing on issues dealt with in JEF, and that is the Delegation of the EU in BiH. We achieved excellent cooperation and on this occasion the EU Delegation in BiH decided to support us , and it currently represents the most important drivers of future work. Also, the JEF Europe umbrella organization, as well as national sections supports us, and we are already working on cooperation in the activities for the coming year and the period that lies ahead.

What were the past activities of the organization, and what will they be in the future?

Members of JEF BiH, after the original idea of reestablishment, participated in several events that were crucial to gaining the necessary knowledge and creating a network of contacts to continue the work of JEF BiH, and some of them are: Balkan Training Days 2013 in Podgorica; a follow-up meeting in January in Pristina; APV MEU in March 2014 in Tirana; BTD planning in May 2014 in Belgrade; Model European Union in May 2014 in Tirana, etc.

Further JEF BiH activities are related to the participation of our members in the Nordic camp in Arendal in Norway in July, where our national section will be presented for the first time to the other European sections besides Balkan ones, and we will work on the evaluation of previous BTDs in the past 12 years. Also, our members will participate in the BTD which will be held in Belgrade in October, and will try with its utmost to organise a follow-up meeting or BTD 2015 in BiH. Of course, in addition to the standard activities that JEF Europe offers its sections, and cooperation with sections of in the Balkans and Norway, JEF BiH has serious plans and is working on other projects that will apply for the following year, and we are going to have more information when implementation of project activities come in.

For more information on Young European Federalists, please visit: www.jef.eu