European Athletics President Hansjörg Wirz met with Snezana Samardzic-Markovic, the Minister of Youth and Sports of the Republic of Serbia, on Thursday on the opening day of the European Athletics Convention in Belgrade.
Samardzic-Markovic hosted a meeting with President Wirz and European Athletics Director General Christian Milz along with IAAF Senior Vice President Sergey Bubka and Athletics Federation of Serbia President Veselin Jevroskimovic at the Serbian Palace.
“I am impressed with the excellent cooperation the Athletics Federation of Serbia has with the Serbian government, the Ministry of Defense, the Ministry of Sport and Youth and the City of Belgrade. They all recognise and understand the importance of what the federation is trying to achieve and the importance of a solid future for athletics in Serbia,” said President Wirz.
“I am extremely pleased with the cooperation and mutual understanding in the spirit of friendship that exists between European Athletics and the Athletics Federation of Serbia. The Serbian federation is a very active Member Federation, considering that they hosted the 2009 European Athletics Junior Championships in Novi Sad, the 2010 European Team Championships 2nd League in Belgrade, now the European Athletics Convention and, looking ahead, the 2011 European Team Championships 2nd League in Novi Sad.”
Samardzic-Markovic said, “I am very honoured that I am the president of the organising committee of this European Athletics Convention in Belgrade. Sport is not only sports competition it is also sports diplomacy and today we had fruitful talks about the promotion of athletics, athletics in schools and the importance of sports facilities.
'I also informed President Wirz that Serbia intends to bid for the 2015 European Athletics Indoor Championships.'
The European Athletics Conventions runs through 14-16 October in the Serbian capital.