The European Games in Minsk 2019

After the European Olympic Committee (EOC) established the European Games in 2011 by analogy with games on other continents, these took place for the first time on June 12-28, 2015 in Baku (Azerbaijan). Initially, the Netherlands were chosen as the venue for the second European Games in May 2015 during an extraordinary general meeting of the European Olympic Committee (EOC). However, a few days later the Dutch Government declared that they will not host the European Games. According to one of the top managers of the Belarusian Directorate of the European Games in Minsk, the stumbling stone for the Dutch, besides the logistical challenges, was the sum of 60 million Euro which had to be contributed by the Netherlands on top the original total budget of the Games in the amount of 125 million Euro. Therefore the EOC started negotiations with other associations which showed interest in organizing of the Games. On October 21, 2016 the EOC appointed the capital of the Republic of Belarus, Minsk, as the host of the second European Games. The Games will take place here from June 21 to June 30, 2019.

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