Azernews.Az

By Nigar Orujova

Brussels was introduced to Baku 2015 European Games in a grand inaugural ceremony on April 14.

The historic sport event has already been presented in several European capitals: Rome, London, Paris, Athens, Ankara, Berlin, and Moscow.

Co-organized by the Heydar Aliyev Foundation and Azerbaijan’s Embassy in Belgium, the event was held at the Egmont Palace.

The ceremony saw speeches of Azerbaijani Sport and Youth Minister, Azad Rahimov, former President of the International Olympic Committee, Jacques Rogge, Secretary General of the Belgian Olympic Committee, Philippe Vander Putten and Vice President of the European Parliament, Richard Henry Charnetsky.

The event which was attended by socio-political figures from Belgium and employees of accredited diplomatic offices in Brussels provided an insight into the preparations of the first European Games.

The event also featured a film retracing Baku-2015 preparations.

Azad Rahimov spoke about Azerbaijan's achievements in sport over the past years. He noted that Azerbaijan had been entrusted with such a great honor due to its commitment to sports and broad efforts to turn the country into a modern civil society.

Jacques Rogge voiced confidence that the Games will be grandiose and serve as a source of inspiration for young sportsmen and women. “Sportsmen will celebrate a big sport holiday in Azerbaijan this June,” he said.

Philippe Vander Putten and Henry Charnetsky stressed the importance of the upcoming Games in terms of expanding ties between regional states.

During the inauguration ceremony, guests had the opportunities to admire a photo exhibition featuring the beauty of Baku and other regions of Azerbaijan.

The Foundation also handed various publications about Azerbaijan, including Baku 2015 Games.

Azerbaijan’s capital, Baku is finalizing all preparations to the grandiose event. The Games will see 6,000 athletes from 50 countries to compete in 20 sports, 16 of which are Olympic.

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Nigar Orujova is AzerNews’s staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @o_nigar

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