Not every country can earn the right to host such a large-scale event as the first European Games, director general of the German media group Objektleiter Ayhan Gunes said in an interview with Trend as part of the European Newspaper Congress being held in Vienna.

“The decision of hosting the European Games in Azerbaijan testifies to the country’s great potential,” he said. “The first European Games will help the Europeans, other participants and spectators of the competition to become better acquainted with the culture, historical sites and tourist opportunities of Azerbaijan.”

He said that the infrastructure necessary for holding the large-scale sporting events is being created in Azerbaijan.

“German athletes always show good results at the Winter and Summer Olympics,” he said. “Germany intends to send its athletes to participate, in general, in all kinds of sports as part of the European Games. In particular, the German athletes will compete in such kinds of sports as swimming, football, basketball, athletics and others.”

Baku 2015 is the first-ever European Games, an exciting and innovative multi-sport event for the continent that will take place on June 12-28, 2015.

There will be a total of 20 sports at Baku 2015: 16 Olympic sports and four non-Olympic sports. More than 6,000 athletes from across Europe will be representing their nations over 17 days of competition./trend/