The countdown has begun – a countdown clock was set today at the entrance to the City of Budva, which will show how many days, hours and minutes remains until the start of the Games of the Small States of Europe 2019. Exactly one year from today, athletes from nine European countries with less than a million inhabitants will gather in Budva. In addition to Montenegro, competitors from Malta, Andorra, San Marino, Iceland, Luxembourg, Liechtenstein, Monaco and Cyprus will take part in the Games. This will be a gathering of more than a thousand contestants and as much as a thousand more members of delegations, officials of National Olympic Committees and Sports Associations. It will be the very first multi-sport competition in our country. After the symbolic celebration of the Year-Before-the-Beginning of the Games, a festivity was held in front of the walls of Budva's Old Town, during which the significance of this event, for both Budva and Montenegro, was presented to the public. Mr. Dusan Simonovic (President of the Montenegrin Olympic Committee), Mr. Dragan Krapovic (Mayor of Budva), Mr. Milos Lalevic (Director of Sports Directorate at the Ministry of Sports), and Mr. Jovan Ramovic (in front of NGO Volunteers 2019), were the spokespersons at the ceremony. The introductory part of the program involved the youngest athletes from Volleyball Clubs "Mediteran" and "Libero", Gymnastic Club "Budva", and Karate Club "Budva".
