The 50 National Olympic Committees from across Europe are arriving in the Belarus capital for their annual General Assembly, invited by the local NOC.

On the occasion of their 25th anniversary, the Belarus NOC will welcome next Friday and Saturday, in their dome-roofed Great Hall at their amazing Headquarters in the Minsk sports district, about 300 representatives of the International Olympic Committee, National Olympic Committees, organisers of forthcoming Olympic Games (PyeongChang 2018, Tokyo 2020), the organisers of the next European Youth Olympic Festivals (Erzurum 2017, Gyor 2017), and other sports organizations that regularly attend the EOC meetings, who will be addressing and exchanging views on topical issues.

The Assembly will welcome President Alexander Lukashenko, president of the country and of the NOC, and ANOC President Sheikh Ahmad, IOC member.
Today the EOC Executive Committee is holding its 4th meeting of the year, chaired by Acting Vice president Janez Kocijančič.

In Minsk, the EOC will also celebrate the 25th anniversary of their youth sports event – the European Youth Olympic Festival. A special exhibition has been arranged at the Belarus NOC HQ.
The Minsk General Assembly will award the 2016 Piotr Nurowski Prize to the Best Young European Athlete for summer sports.

Minsk already hosted a meeting of the Executive Committee of the European Olympic Committees in September 2011.