On 30 June 2016, the EU Info Centre organised a promotional event of the Erasmus + programme to inform the 2016-2017 Erasmus scholarship holders from across BiH on what to expect in the universities across the European Union.

Talking with the students, the Head of the EU Delegation to BiH and EU Special Representative, Ambassador Lars-Gunnar Wigemark emphasized the importance of educated young professionals for any country, let alone BiH.

“I would like to meet with you when you return and I hope you’ll come back. I also hope that you will take advantage of this experience and pass it on to your friends and other young people in BiH. This is a great opportunity and I’m proud that we as the EU have such educational programmes. I myself participated in similar programmes and would not be here today if I had not,” said Ambassador Wigemark.

Erasmus + Action Credit mobility offers students enrolled in the Western Balkans universities an opportunity to study one semester at one of the universities in the EU, while Erasmus Mundus Joint Master Degrees and Joint Doctorates offer full Master or Doctoral cycles at one of the EU universities.

Helene Skikos, Policy Officer and Western Balkans coordinator at DG Education and Culture used the opportunity to underline the EU’s commitment to BiH and the Western Balkans in general.

”This programme was launched in the ‘80s, some 30 years ago. Back then it was only within the borders of the EU, but it later expanded. Now we have a generous budget for the Western Balkans. Our annual budget is more than 20 million euro for the Western Balkans”, Skikos emphasised.

Representatives of the Alumni organisation Erasmus Student Network (ESN) shared some useful tips and tricks that could help the next generation of the Erasmus students start their new experience with ease.

Berina Sabanovic, the ESN representative, describes her Erasmus credit mobility exercised in Italy as ‘a life changing experience’.

‘’Erasmus exchange has opened new horizons for me. Not only metaphorically, since after completion of my Bachelor studies now I have been awarded the Erasmus Mundus Joint Master Degree scholarship”, Sabanovic said.

Student Nikola Haviereff is eagerly awaiting for September to start his Erasmus experience in Berlin.

‘’I don’t have any particular expectations, but I am well aware that students in Berlin and the EU in general have many opportunities. I will try to use this time to learn, see, meet and visit as much as possible’’, Haviereff concludes.

Erasmus+ is the EU programme for education, training, youth and sport which started on 1 January 2014 and replaced the then current funding programmes run by the European Commission in the areas of education, training, youth and sport, including the Lifelong Learning Programme (Erasmus, Comenius, Leonardo, Grundtvig and Transversal), Youth in Action and other international programmes such as Jean Monnet and Erasmus Mundus. The Erasmus+ Programme runs from 2014-2020 and supports activities in education, training, youth and sport across all lifelong learning sectors including higher education, further education, adult education, schools and youth activities.

All the relevant info on Erasmus+ can be found on the following official pages:

http://ec.europa.eu/programmes/erasmus-plus/index_en.htm

and on website of BiH National Erasmus + Office:

http://www.erasmusbih.com/index.php/en/

Erasmus + guide is available on the link:

http://euinfo.ba/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/erasmus-plus-programme-guide_en.pdf