On 28 May, 2018, the Young European Federalists Maastricht (JEF Maastricht) held their annual General Meeting. The board of the last association year, elected in late November 2017, reported on their effective restart for the association in Maastricht.
Indeed, since the end of November new life spirit shook the young activists. More than three activities per month were organised independently in and around Maastricht, and even more in collaboration with partners both from Maastricht and the rest of Europe. A huge achievement for a young association: “We’re glad that we could grow a committed and cohesive community of more than 30 active members again and host so many activities within a timeframe of 6 months. That shows that young people in Maastricht do want to commit to an improved Europe and a better European Union. We can claim this to be a success – even though it required and still requires a lot of effort to successfully start off as a student association, particularly in Maastricht”, comments Thilo Buchholz, Secretary General of the last board.
With a newly elected board, now the Young European Federalists seek to finally advance their status as a youth and student association in the region. With the European Parliament elections coming up in less than a year, the clock is ticking for an effective campaigning – for young people to vote. “Raising awareness for the importance of the elections will be the central theme of our work within the next year. Our first goal is to make young people vote – secondly, we of course want the stakeholders in the European Union to realise the need for a structural reform towards more democratic accountability as soon as possible. These will be our main concerns” pointed Thilo Buchholz out – who is now elected President of the association. His position as Secretary General was taken by Oona Huttunen; Kasper Sukselainen became Treasurer. Gabriele Melindo and Joshua Hellinger were appointed as additional board members.
More information on JEF Maastricht
The Young European Federalists Maastricht (JEF Maastricht) were founded 2012 as local section of JEF Europe. JEF is the oldest and biggest youth association striving for a democratic united Europe and is currently active in more than 30 countries. The association focuses on civic education as well as youth participation in politics and represents the interests of young people for the future of Europe towards stakeholders in public administration and society. The Young European Federalists are not affiliated with any particular party or religious view.
For further information please contact:
Oona Huttunen
Secretary General
sg.maastricht@jefnetherlands.nl