Baku, June 29, AZERTAC

On 28 June, the historic Kunztschule Gallery in Berlin hosted a public screening of the closing ceremony for the inaugural European Games to 400 high-profile guests. Organised by the Berlin office of The European Azerbaijan Society (TEAS), this celebrated the fellowship of sport and the Baku 2015 European Games that were held from 12–28 June 2015. This stunning ceremony concluded these Games, which were a landmark for the country and for Europe. The high-profile guests, including Ambassadors and Members of the German Parliament attended the event were impressed by the successful inaugural edition of the European Games and the stunning Closing Ceremony. The guests acknowledged that Azerbaijan is becoming increasing Eurocentric. Between the Eurovision Song Contest in 2012 and the Baku European Grand Prix in 2016, the Baku 2015 European Games were another major European event hosted by Azerbaijan. His Excellency Parviz Shahbazov, Ambassador of the Republic of Azerbaijani in Berlin thanked Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev and the whole National Olympic Committee for the Organization of the First European Games. He noted in his speech that "the decision to host the first ever European Games was taken in 2012. A year later, the Azerbaijani capital was chosen as a city to host this great occasion. The people of Azerbaijan were happy and proud of this decision". He completed his speech by praising the Azerbaijani Athletes' unique achievement of the historic 2nd place in the overall medal count. In his welcoming speech Tobias Zech, Member of Parliament acknowledged Azerbaijan's achievement of organizing the inaugural edition of the European Games in only 2.5 years. The European Games were a big success and a landmark for future editions of the European Games." He added that "sports can be a tool to strengthen relations between European countries". TEAS showed pride in hosting this reception and Shahin Namati, Director of TEAS Germany described the Baku2015 European Games as "an event of historical importance for our young nation which regained its independence only 24 years ago. Back then it was perhaps inconceivable to think of the possibility of hosting an event of this scale. But assured growth of our country's economic and humane resources made it possible to achieve this objective. The European Games were another success for the Azerbaijani-European relations, and are therefore a contribution of Azerbaijan to the sports history of Europe".