PREFACE

Dear Sport Friends,

Sport diplomacy is still a relatively new topic within the European Union policies and I am delighted to share with you some of my thoughts in this field.

Starting chronologically, the very first policy document agreed by the European Union Member States was entitled Council conclusions on sports diplomacy and adopted in 2016 during the Slovak Presidency of the Council of the European Union. I had the privilege, as Head of the European Commission's Sport Unit at the time, to contribute to shaping the policy agenda in this area of sport. The Council of the European Union acknowledged by this document that sport is a useful tool in supporting intercultural, economic and political cooperation and understanding between nations and cultures, and that its potential can be part of extending and strengthening contacts between the EU and third countries.

The Council recognised that sport diplomacy could be understood as the use of sport as a means to influence diplomatic, intercultural, social, economic and political relations. Sport diplomacy is an inseparable part of public diplomacy, which is a long-term process of communication with the public and organisations with aims such as heightening the attractiveness and image of a country, region or city and influence decision-making on policy areas. It helps to achieve foreign policy goals in a way that is visible and comprehensible for the general public.

Furthermore, beyond the Council conclusions on sports diplomacy, a key policy document, the Council conclusions on promoting the common values of the European Union through sport, was adopted later. This valuable contribution to the sports agenda of the European Union was approved during the Bulgarian Presidency of the Council of the European Union in 2018. It considers, among others, that we want a society in which peace, freedom, tolerance and solidarity are placed above all else. These values bind Europeans together and are worth fighting for.


In light of above mentioned, there is no surprise that representatives of the Erasmus+ project entitled EU Sport Values Diplomacy, who were coming from Slovakia and Bulgaria, made especially those two policy areas of the European Union visible within their work. Their engagement allowed further development of both topics and gave a unique chance to connect people passionate about sport diplomacy and values of the European Union through sport.

I had the opportunity to meet some of them in person in Sofia when attending an event called Runathon 2023, which interconnected sport diplomacy with intergenerational values of sports. Runathon is clearly a perfect example of a significant sporting event promoting sport diplomacy and the values of the European Union through sports people. In addition, I was pleased to learn that Elena Malikova, former Chair of the Council Working Party on Sport, was a driving force in the development of the new continuation of sport diplomacy through these initiatives and proved that it could be realised in close cooperation with the sports movement whilst respecting its autonomy.

Both those projects funded by the European Union gave a chance for various synergies in the field and supported sport diplomacy in many aspects. I was very happy about it because some years ago, a notion of sport diplomacy was not that common and much developed within the European Union.

To wrap it up, the Erasmus+ project entitled EU Sport Values Diplomacy well develops Council conclusions on sport diplomacy and Council Conclusion on promoting the common values of the European Union through sport via SPORT VALUES CHANNEL as the core project outcome. Within six major sequences, there are various interactive activities, which efficiently interconnect sport diplomacy and values of the European Union through sport.

It concerns, among others, sequences on Slovak and Bulgarian sports personalities, because sports people, in general, can bestow a positive image among foreign publics and organisations. They have a great potential to support foreign policy goals, they can significantly contribute to strengthening economic relations and are often used to initial diplomatic relations between countries.

I had the pleasure to meet in person many Slovak and Bulgarian inspirational people who contributed to the SPORT VALUES CHANNEL. I must admit that I was very much impressed by the collection of their precious stories, which showed the power of sporting values across various societal sectors. Thus, in the next pages you might learn, for instance, about views of Anatoly Iliev, Ambassador of Good from Bulgaria or Slovak leading pianist Jordana Palovičová, just to start with a few of them.

I am very pleased that the Erasmus+ project entitled EU Sport Values Diplomacy belongs to one of the initiatives that the European Commission is supporting in the area of sport diplomacy. Let me encourage you to have a look at this amazing booklet, which offers alongside with great stories also core fragments of the whole project work of this exceptional international consortium.

My final words belong to those who were behind the scenes of this project - Elena Malikova, Kristiana Kazandzhieva, Yanka Dimitrova and their teams. They all did a great job in the development of this project and I have no doubt that their work has significantly improved the knowledge and impact of the sport diplomacy and EU values.