With the European Games 1-year-to-go event just around the corner, the European Olympic Committees (EOC) delegation and experts together with the Coordination Commission (CoCom) and the Minsk European Games Organising Committee (MEGOC) leadership met in Minsk on 19-20 June for their second meeting of the year.

The first day of discussions saw as a result a positive assessment of the preparations by all stakeholders. “Today’s MEGOC report on the progress with preparations was positively received”, said MEGOC CEO George Katulin after the meeting held at the Belarusian National Olympic Committee headquarters. “Our EOC colleagues were pleased to find out that the MEGOC staff has grown significantly, in particular in leadership positions. Our next step is to set up operating teams at each venue”, Katulin also added.

EOC CoCom Chair Spyros Capralos also expressed his satisfaction with the work carried out so far: “A number of sports venues have recently been refurbished and will soon be put into operation,” Capralos said. “The Chef de Mission seminar, taking place from 9-12 July, will bring together in Minsk representatives from 49 of the 50 NOCs participating in the European Games, who will receive all the necessary information to best prepare for next year’s event”, he also added.

European Games Executive Director Simon Clegg pointed out that the dialogue with key MEGOC function areas during the joint meetings have helped identify those areas that need additional attention in the near future. “It is already clear that MEGOC’s work is going in the right direction, they are very active in getting ready for the Games. I worked at 12 Olympic Games and no edition is the same as the previous one. There is no need to compare events at this level and scale, but I am sure that the European Games in Minsk will be memorable because Belarus will bring its own twist to it which will make them special”, Clegg said.

Tomorrow, on 21 June, 365 days before the Games, all of them will attend the grand opening of the Dinamo stadium – the main venue of the Minsk European Games.