Minsk, Belarus; 4 March 2018: European Olympic Committees (EOC) President Janez Kocijančič led a successful three-day visit to Minsk and was satisfied with the progress of preparations for the second edition of the European Games, which are to be held in the Belarussian capital from 21-30 June 2019.

President Kocijančič was joined by the EOC’s Minsk 2019 European Games Coordination Commission (CoCom), led by Chair Spyros Capralos and Vice Chair Zlatko Mateša, as well as a group of EOC experts. The EOC team also included EOC Vice-President Niels Nygaard and EOC Secretary General Raffaele Pagnozzi.

Over the three days, President Kocijančič led the EOC team at a number of meetings to receive an update on the EOC’s flagship event, including one with President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko.

Speaking after this meeting, President Kocijančič said he that he is eagerly awaiting the start of the second European Games: “The European Olympic Committees is fully satisfied with the preparations that have been made so far, and we are looking forward to the future with optimism and confidence. The Minsk 2019 European Games Organising Committee (MEGOC) has highly-qualified, welltrained, professional staff working hard to deliver an excellent second edition of the Games.”

President Kocijančič also congratulated President Lukashenko on the results of the Belarusian athletes at the PyeongChang 2018 Olympic Winter Games, where they won two gold medals and one silver: “I would like to congratulate the Belarusian team for finishing 15th in the PyeongChang 2018 medal table. This was a great effort and reflects the high level of sporting competence here in Belarus. Belarus is not only a country that performs well on the field of play, it is also a country with world-class sporting infrastructure and organisation. Because of this, we are very confident that the European Games will be a resounding success.”