Grand opening of the EUROPEADA

·       European Football Championship of the autochthonous, national minorities in South Tyrol

·       For the first time with a women’s tournament – there will be 23 men’s teams at the start

·       Cultural Day in San Martin de Tor/St. Martin in Thurn with a presentation of the minorities on Wednesday 22 June

18 June 2016

A European football championship never started at such a high altitude: at the high plateau of Kronplatz/Plan de Corones, at more than 2,000 metres altitude the first part of the grand opening of the third EUROPEADA took place with a political reception, for which also every participating team had travelled up the mountain. In the early evening a parade of the teams to the Bruneck Rathausplatz square followed, and the official opening of the third EUROPEADA. Until Sunday 26 June, 23 men’s teams will compete and in their own tournament, for the first time also with a tournament with six women’s teams of the autochthonous, national minorities of Europe. The organiser is the Federal Union of European Nationalities (FUEN), which represents around 100 organisations of the autochthonous, national minorities. The hosts of the EUROPEADA 2016 are the Ladins and the German-speaking South Tyroleans, who were the champions in the two previous versions of the EUROPEADA.

“Our dream – the dream of the autochthonous, nationalities minorities – is that the minorities in the whole of Europe are allowed to maintain their own culture and language and have the same rights as the majority in their country”, said Loránt Vincze, the president of the Federal Union of European Nationalities (FUEN), the largest umbrella organisation of the European minorities, for an audience of about 150 guests at the high plateau of Kronplatz/Plan de Corones. South Tyrol with its German- and Ladin-speaking minorities shows, like the German-speaking minority in Belgium and the Danish-German border region, where four national minorities are at home, how a peaceful co-existence is possible that is of benefit for all. “These examples are an inspiration for many regions and national minorities”, said president Vincze at the event, which was moderated by the South Tyrolean politician and former FUEN vice president Martha Stocker and with the South Tyrolean FUEN vice president Daniel Alfreider.

“We share the wish of FUEN that the national minorities in Europe shall enjoy the same rights everywhere and therefore that we should continue to campaign together so that the European citizens’ initiative Minority SafePack, which urges the implementation of several measures for the protection of the circa 400 European minorities, will become a success”, said Hartmut Koschyk, member of the German federal parliament and German federal government commissioner for matters related to ethnic German resettlers and national minorities. The EUROPEADA is much more than just a sports event; it is a major symbol for the diversity of Europe with guaranteed rights for all the minorities”, said the German minority commissioner. “You can see in several countries that nationalist thinking is on the rise again. We have to oppose this sentiment. The EUROPEADA is a good opportunity to show how powerful a Europe based on diversity can be”, said the South Tyrolean president Arno Kompatscher at Kronplatz/Plan de Corones.

An impression of how colourful this diversity of the national minorities is and the joy they pursue their culture, was visible at the festive parade of the teams at the Bruneck Rathausplatz square. While waving and swaying flags, the 23 men’s and six women’s teams presented themselves to a wide audience. Subsequently, in the early evening, the South Tyrolean president Arno Kompatscher officially opened the EUROPEADA.

More information and photos: www.europeada.eu.