Oproep Cypriotisch voorzitterschap: loop mee voor een beter Europa (en)
The Cinquantenaire Park in Brussels was bustling with life this Sunday morning, the 7th of October, filled with people getting ready to run the challenging Brussels Marathon. Almost 300 of the participants, coming from nearly all member states, but also from other continents, the youngest being 17 months old, wore the official colors of the Cyprus Presidency. They responded to the Presidency’s call for solidarity and helped to raise and donate more than 22.000 Euros to charities across the world.
Make way towards a Better Europe, was the main message that was conveyed by the hundreds of participants running for the Cyprus Presidency team. During the ceremony when the raised amount was presented to selected charities, the Deputy Minister for European Affairs Andreas D. Mavroyiannis spoke of Cyprus’ aspiration “to contribute to a Europe more relevant to its citizens, working on the basis of social cohesion and the underlying principle of solidarity”.
Runners wearing the Cyprus Presidency’s T-shirt participated in the Brussels Marathon (42 km), the Half-Marathon (21km), the Mini-Marathon (4km) and the Kids Run. Deputy Minister Mavroyiannis and European Commission Vice-President Maroš Šefčovič gave the signal for the race to begin by firing the starting pistol, sending the more than 12 000 runners away on their journey.
Donations were presented to the charities by Deputy Minister Mavroyiannis, Commission Vice-President Maroš Šefčovič and Ambassadors, Permanent Representatives to the EU of the Kingdom of Netherlands to the EU Pieter Gooijer, of Hungary Péter Györkös, of Estonia Matti Maasikas and of Cyprus Kornelios Korneliou.
The selected charities are the Georges Malaika Foundation, the Association Belge de Lutte contre la Mucoviscidose (Belgian Cystic Fibrosis Association), Missing Children Europe, Handicap International, Samusocial, CNCD 11.11.11 (National Centre for Development Cooperation), Cyprus Red Cross - Youth Section “Breakfast for students” Programme and ELPIDA Foundation for children with cancer and leukemia.
The Cyprus Presidency wishes to express its gratitude to the donors who made this possible, by adding their donations to the one from the Presidency, helping us make a bigger impact on more people’s lives. These are the A.G.Leventis Foundation, Alpha Bank, Bank of Cyprus, Carob Mill Restaurants, the Cyprus Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Cyprus Federation of America, the Cyprus Investment Promotion Authority (CIPA), the Cyprus Telecommunications Authority (CYTA), Hellenic Bank, Logicom, NKS Shakolas Group, Mr. Peter Papanicolaou, PWC - PriceWaterhouseCoopers, Russian Commercial Bank. A big thank you also to those donors who did not wish to make their names public.
Last but certainly not least, the Presidency extends the warmest, heartfelt thanks to the real stars of the Marathon, all the runners, those who came individually, those who came with their families and those who came as part of larger groups, such as the teams from the Permanent Representations to the EU of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, of Cyprus, of Germany, of Poland, of Lithuania, of Hungary, of Estonia, the Embassy of Indonesia, Commissioner Georgieva’s team, DG DEVCO, DG Enlargement and all Brussels correspondents.
Thank you all!