Kamil Bortniczuk made the statement in the historic southern city of Kraków on Tuesday, Polish state news agency PAP reported.
He spoke to the media on the eve of the opening of the 2023 European Games.
Flame of Peace
The opening ceremony was scheduled to begin at 8:30 p.m. at Kraków’s Municipal Henryk Reyman Stadium, with the lighting of the Flame of Peace, one of the symbols of the European Games, according to officials.
Bortniczuk told reporters that the 2023 European Games would be “a unique event in the history of Polish sport.”
He added: “I am convinced we’ll witness 12 absolutely special days and the opening ceremony will be unprecedented in the history of our country.”
The sports minister stated: “There was never any doubt about the sporting level of the 2023 European Games. We have secured the participation of the best athletes, because the event has the rank of European championships and offers a qualifying route to the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris.”
Bortniczuk added: “I am also convinced that the 2023 European Games will be top-notch organisationally. The opening ceremony will be an event without precedent in the history of Poland.”
European Games in Poland 'will be as good as Olympic Games': regional governor
The governor of Poland's southern Małopolskie province, Witold Kozłowski, said that hosting the 2023 European Games was “an honour” for Kraków and the region.
He added that preparations for the event coincided with “an influx of a wave of refugees from war-torn Ukraine,” as his region welcomed women and children fleeing the Russian invasion.
Kozłowski told reporters that "thanks to the enormous effort of the organisers," the 2023 European Games "will be as good as the Olympic Games.”
'Biggest multi-sport event in Europe' since 2012 London Olympics
Meanwhile, Spyros Capralos, the head of the Association of European Olympic Committees (EOC), said that the 2023 European Games in Poland would be “the biggest multi-sport event in Europe since the 2012 Olympic Games in London.”
Capralos added that, for the first time, the European Games would be held across about a dozen cities, bringing the event “to a much bigger live audience.”
'Russian and Belarusian athletes have no right to compete': Polish sports minister
Asked about the absence of athletes from Russia and its ally Belarus, Poland's Bortniczuk said that the EOC had decided to ban them from the 2023 European Games over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
He stressed that “Poland’s stance on this issue has been clear right from the start.”
The Polish sports minister said: “Russian and Belarusian athletes have no right to compete with other athletes. We don’t agree with those sports federations that allow Russian and Belarusian athletes back into international competition. We say a firm ‘no’ to this.”
2023 European Games
The 2023 European Games will feature 12 days of competition in 29 sports, from June 21 to July 2.
The event will be held at 25 venues in Kraków and 12 other southern Polish cities, including Chorzów, Tarnów, Nowy Sącz, Nowy Targ and Zakopane.
More than 7,000 athletes from 48 countries are expected to take part in the 2023 European Games, which will also provide opportunities to win European championship medals and a pathway to qualify for the 2024 Olympic Games in some of the sports.
A total of 370 Polish athletes, 188 men and 182 women, are gearing up to compete in the 3rd European Games.
Poland won 14 medals, three gold, one silver and 10 bronze, at the 2nd European Games in Minsk, Belarus in 2019.
Team Poland scooped 20 medals, two gold, eight silver and 10 bronze, at the 1st European Games in Baku, Azerbaijan, in 2015.
(pm/gs)
Source: PAP, interia.pl