Dear friends of Fencing, dear fans,

Next March, Athens will host the 4^th European Cadet Championships. It is obvious that the selection of our country to organise this important event demonstrates the trust shown by the sport’s international community, given the successful organizational results to all the events we have hosted.

We are preparing to welcome the future leading athletes of the fencing international scene from all over Europe. For one week we will have the chance to attend strong competitions in Olympic Athletic Center of Athens (OAKA). These competitions are a great opportunity not only for our young fencers, but for our Federation as well, who aims, among other things, to regenerate its sport manpower.

The success of the championships is certainly the main objective of our efforts. I strongly believe and hope that everybody involved in the field of fencing in any way will share these common values.

We would like to assure our guests athletes, coaches and officials from the European countries that we consider the championships in Athens as a “friends meeting” and as an opportunity to strengthen our bonds. This is the reason why we hope that everyone will contribute to the enhancement of the values we all believe in.

Emmanuel Katsiadakis

President of the Hellenic Fencing Federation