Dear Colleagues, Dear Friends,

The thoughts of everyone at the European Olympic Committees (EOC) have been with all those in Turkey and neighbouring Syria affected by the devastating earthquake that took place on the morning of 6 February, as well as with the families impacted by the terrifying train crash in Greece last week.

The EOC offered to help our friends at the Turkish Olympic Committee, including EOC Executive Committee Member Hasan Arat, in any way possible in their recovery from the earthquake and that is why we donated €250,000 from our special activities fund to help assist those in the Turkish sporting world and beyond affected by the disaster.

We pray for everyone injured in the disasters and send our condolences to those who have lost loved ones.

Two weeks ago, I was in Brussels for the kick-off meeting of the new OCEAN – Olympic Committees of Europe Approaching Carbon Neutrality – Project.

It is the biggest project in terms of participating NOCs the EOC EU Office has run. It is incredibly pleasing to report because it is a sign that we are all taking climate change seriously and are all committed to tackling the issue. We have to continue to adapt to the new realities we are facing and make sure that as a movement our organisations and events are agile enough to respond to the challenges that come our way.

As part of my trip to Belgium, I also held meetings with Vice-President of the European Commission Margaritis Schinas and European Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth Mariya Gabriel. I must thank them for their hospitality and the interesting discussions we had. I was also pleased to visit the Belgian Olympic Committee and meet President Jean Michel Saive and his Team to discuss our further cooperation.

Finally, we are always preparing for our next events at the EOC and I know the 224 taekwondo athletes who have had their places at the European Games Krakow-Malopolska 2023 confirmed will be counting down the days to the competition. While the Winter European Youth Olympic Festival (EYOF) Friuli Venezia Giulia 2023 was not even two months ago, it was fantastic to be in Georgia to sign the host city contract for Borjomi-Bakuriani 2025.

With EurOlympic regards,

Spyros Capralos

EOC President