Visa Free

Fifteen sports and 21 disciplines will be contested at Minsk 2019.

Thirteen venues will host events at the second European Games.

The Opening and Closing Ceremonies of the second European Games will take place at the Dinamo Stadium, which will also host the athletics events.

Minsk is the capital and largest city of Belarus, situated on the Svislač and the Nyamiha rivers.

Minsk has a population of 1.98 million people.

The Minsk 2019 mascot is Lesik the Fox who represents friendship, development, harmony, discipline, determination, cheerfulness, invincibility and vigour!

Lesik is pretty easy to spot with his red hat, white and green shirt, black shorts, blue shoes and yellow fur. These same colours are used on the Minsk 2019 logo.

One-hundred-and-ninety-nine medal events will be contested at Minsk 2019; 91 men’s events, 89 women’s events and 19 mixed events.

In all, 4,022 competitors will take part over 10 days.

The European Games take place every four years, the first of which was held in Baku, Azerbaijan in 2015.

Eight sports taking place at the European Games will serve as qualifiers for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.

Minsk was elected as the venue for the second European Games on October 21, 2016 at the General Assembly of the EOC.

Fifty One European National Olympic Committees will be represented in the Belarusian capital during the Games.

Belarusian athletes won 43 medals at the first European Games - 10 gold, 11 silver, and 22 bronze - and finished seventh on the medal table.

The second European Games will be held at the largest sports facilities in Minsk, such as stadium “Dinamo”, “Minsk-Arena” and “Chizhovka-Arena”.

More than 8,000 volunteers will help prepare and stage Minsk 2019.

Minsk 2019 volunteers are assigned to one of 20 roles ranging from spectator services, hospitality, venue management, medical services, transport and protocol assistants.

Belaruskali is a Premium Partner of Minsk 2019 whilst Yasna-Beltelecom, MTS, Fabrika Reklamy, Belarusbank, UNICEF and LUCH are National Partners.

Faroe Islands will be able to compete for the first time at the second European Games in archery, badminton, judo and table tennis.

The first buyer of a paper ticket was Minsk 2019 mascot Lesik, the baby fox.

The programme of the European Games also includes the European Judo Championships which will gather the best athletes in the Chizhovka Arena.

The second European Games will be held under the motto Bright Year, Bright You.

The logo of the second European Games has been inspired by the slogan “Follow Your Dream”.

A Minsk Guest Card has been designed for tourists coming to the Belarusian capital and provides discounts and bonuses for museums, shopping centres, restaurants, and cafes.

Minsk is characterised by long avenues and neoclassical grandeur.

Visitors to the Minsk 2019 European Games can enjoy a visa-free period from June 10 till July 10 with their ticket.

This applies through any border checkpoint of Belarus.

Citizens of 98 countries can stay in Belarus without a visa during the indicated period, including arriving and departure days.

A visa-free traveller is required to have:

A ticket for a sport event or the Opening or Closing Ceremony
A valid passport
Medical insurance, which can be purchased on site, valid for the period of the visit
At least BYN50 (£18/$23/€20) per day of stay

The visa system will be similar to the one used in Belarus during the 2014 Men's World Ice Hockey Championships.

A significant number of overseas sports fans are expected to attend Minsk 2019 via Russia.

Belarus and Russia recently signed an intergovernmental agreement under which the latter will provide visa-free travel in its territory for foreign nationals arriving for the European Games.

The two countries took into account the experience of cooperation gained during the FIFA World Cup in Russia as they prepared the agreement on mutual visa recognition.

Opening ceremony

21 June 2019

Closing ceremony

30 June 2019

Currency

Belarusian Rouble (BYN)

What the local time is now in Minsk

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When British skaters Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean won the Olympic gold medal in ice dance at Sarajevo 1984 with 12 perfect 6.0s from every judge, for their interpretation of Maurice Ravel's Boléro, an important member of their team was singer-actor Michael Crawford. Crawford, who had played Frank Spencer in British sitcom Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em and the title role in the musical The Phantom of the Opera, had become a mentor to the pair in 1981 and went on to help them create their Olympic routine. Crawford said he “taught them how to act". He was present with their trainer Betty Callaway at the ringside at Sarajevo as they created one of the most iconic moments in Olympic history.

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