Opinions & Interviews

MINSK, 20 October (BelTA) - The European community appreciates the level of the development of sport in Belarus, Secretary General of the European Olympic Committees (EOC) Raffaele Pagnozzi said on 19 October, BelTA has learned.

The working group on the preparation for the 45^th EOC General Assembly arrived in Minsk several days ago. “The European community views Belarus as a country with the rapidly developing sport sector. Within the forthcoming three days Minsk will play host to a number of special events. We will discuss the important issues of the Olympic movement development. Special attention will be attached to the celebration of the 25^th anniversary of the National Olympic Committee of Belarus. In 2011 I took part in the EOC Executive Committee meeting, however this is the first time I am visiting the new building of the National Olympic Committee. It is gorgeous. It is great for our big Olympic family that the Belarusian head of state is also the President of the National Olympic Committee. This promotes the development of sport in Belarus. It is important that Belarus is making progress in the international sport arena. I am confident that the General Assembly will contribute to the higher role of your country in the world sport,” Raffaele Pagnozzi said.

One of the EOC heads also spoke about the deadline for naming the host of the Second European Games. “We have made great headway in the matter this month. Initially the Netherlands was considered as the host of the sport forum. The Netherlands chose to withdraw later due to financial reasons. There was also an agreement with Russia. Now, we have to reconsider our plans following the Olympic Games in Rio. We hope that the EOC will name the capital of the Second European Games in a couple of weeks,” the EOC Secretary General said.

He also said that the program of the EOC General Assembly in Minsk includes a ceremony to present Piotr Nurowski Best European Young Athlete Prize. There are Belarusian athletes among the nominees for the award. “The prize has been presented every year for the past ten years in two categories, winter and summer sports,” Raffaele Pagnozzi noted. The award ceremony will be held at the national exhibition center BelExpo on 21 October.

The Belarusian capital of Minsk won the right to host the 45th EOC General Assembly a year ago in Prague. Representatives of all 50 European National Olympic Committees will attend the EOC General Assembly in Minsk from 20 to 22 October.