Medals are due to be awarded in men’s and women’s team kumite and kata with competitions being held for seniors and cadets and juniors at Pristina’s Sports Hall.

Eliminations and bronze medal matches are scheduled for tomorrow with the finals taking centre stage on Sunday (June 4).

The dozen nations set to be represented are Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Macedonia, Italy, hosts Kosovo, Montenegro, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Switzerland and Turkey.

"These 15th European Karate Championships for Regions in Pristina, Kosovo, are expected to be again a big success after the rather successful experiences of the previous editions of this event, and taking as well into account that these Championships have been continuously increasing in size and in quality since its inception in 2003," Antonio Espinós, the President of the European Karate Federation (EKF) and World Karate Federation (WKF), said.

"The unique opportunity for all European regions to compete under their own name, flag and personality in an official sport event makes these Karate Regions Championships a rather singular and attractive activity, bringing to the reality historic aspirations that have proved to meet many expectations."

Ismet Krasnqi, President of the Kosovo Karate Federation, added: "The Kosovo Karate Federation for the first time, after its accession in the great family of the WKF, will host the best karate athletes of the regions.

"This is a great honour and opportunity for us to host European karate athletes, hoping they will take back home unforgettable memories of friendship, love and peace from Pristina."

The European Karate Championships for Regions was among the events covered when the EKF held an Executive Committee meeting in Bulgaria’s capital Sofia in February to analyse progress of the sport around the continent.

Espinós chaired the meeting where topics discussed included a review of the EKF competition calendar and an evaluation of upcoming events.