European Union nomination for EHF President

The EHF President, Jean Brihault, is to join the EU's High Level Group on Sport Diplomacy Group looking at the role of sport in EU public diplomacy.

European Commissioner Tibor Navracsics, who is responsible for Education, Culture, Youth and Sport, has created the group with aim of assessing the value of sport in EU external policies.

The group will identify how sport can help the EU reach its external political ambitions (e.g. fostering relations with partner countries) and be an element of dialogue with third countries and regions as part of EU public diplomacy.

After an open selection process, 30 members have been selected, split between the sports diplomacy group and a second looking at grassroots sport.

Members include active and former athletes, academics, representatives of think tanks and the media, personalities having exercised high-level responsibilities in the field of sport as well as representatives of major sport organisations.

Amongst those joining the group are Patrick Hickey, President of the European Olympic Committees; Pál Schmitt, former President of Hungary and Olympic fencer and Snežana Samardžić-Marković, who was Minister of Youth and Sports in Serbia at the time of the Men’s EHF EURO 2012 and is now the Council of Europe's Director General for Democracy.