An Extraordinary General Assembly of the European Olympic Committees (EOC) today unanimously elected the Malopolska region and city of Krakow, Poland as the Host of the 3^rd edition of the European Games in 2023.

Representatives of all 50 European National Olympic Committees participated in the vote, which was held a day after the Opening Ceremony for the 2^nd European Games in Minsk, Belarus.

“We strongly believe that this great multi-sport event will contribute to the development of European sport and also promote our country, Poland, the city of Krakow, and the Malopolska region,” said Polish NOC President Andrzej Krasnicki.

The next steps will be to determine the sports programme for 2023 and the composition of the EOC Coordination Commission for the Games.

“We will follow the strategy defined in Olympic Agenda 2020 and,” EOC President Janez Kocijančič said. “That means we will determine the core sports and then discuss with the organisers which other sports to include, with emphasis on those offering Olympic qualifications and European Championships.”

“The Olympic Games are returning to Europe the following year [Paris 2024], so we would like to have a sports programme with very strong Olympic qualification as we aim to defend our position as the leading continent in international sport.”

The European Games

The European Games are the only pan-European multi-sport event directly aligned to the Olympic Games. Taking place every four years, the Games are a celebration of Europe’s finest athletes that provide a crucial milestone on the road to the Olympic Games. The inaugural edition took place in Baku in 2015, while the second edition is currently under way in Minsk, Belarus.