Anatoly Glaz, Head of the Information and Digital Diplomacy Office, Press Secretary of the Belarusian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, named the VIP guests for the opening ceremony of the 2nd European Games at a press briefing held on 19 June.
“The 2nd European Games will kick off on 21 June. This event is unprecedentedly important for the country and is one of the biggest sports events in Europe. It is a great honor for us to have an opportunity to welcome a number of delegations of the highest and high levels at the upcoming opening ceremony. These will be Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev, Georgia President Salome Zourabichvili, Moldova President Igor Dodon, Serbia President Aleksandar Vucic, Chairman of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina Milorad Dodik, Chairman of the Government of the Russian Federation Dmitry Medvedev. We also expect Head of the Chechen Republic Ramzan Kadyrov,” Anatoly Glaz said. Among other guests will be the leadership of international and regional organizations, including Secretary General of the Central European Initiative Roberto Antonione, UNESCO Assistant Director General Nada Al-Nashif, Chairman of the Board of the Eurasian Economic Commission Tigran Sargsyan, State Secretary of the Belarus-Russia Union State Grigory Rapota, Director General of the Secretariat of the Council of the Baltic Sea States Maira Mora. “We expect to welcome official delegations from the UK and Hungary led by Minister of State for Trade Policy George Hollingbery and Minister of Prime Minister's Office of Hungary Gergely Gulyas,” the spokesman said. Apart from the continent's best athletes from 50 states, over 1,000 journalists and numerous guests, the games will be attended by about 20 delegations of foreign sports agencies, representatives of the European Olympic Committees, presidents and secretaries general of more than 40 national Olympic committees of the European countries, the leadership of international and European sports federations. At today's briefing at the Belarusian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, diplomats and representatives of international organizations will be updated on the rules of attending the games. Participants of the meeting will be also provided with the information on security measures applied at the competition facilities during the 2nd European Games and other issues of interest for foreign guests.