I take this opportunity to outline the full dimension this event represents for our Union and to recall the issues at stake. 

Our General Assembly is a particular event as it will be, for all of us, both a time for reflection and action.

I invite you to briefly look back at our recent past, allowing you to measure the progress made and the changes that have affected our development since my first decisions as President. 

The UEG has changed profoundly, reformed, using its internal resources, its members, the strengths and skills that enabled it to consolidate its structures, to ensure its financial independence, to build a positive dynamic and innovative image.

With this strong balance, it is up to you in Split to continue along this path and continuously improve what can be improved, keep innovating and progressing. 

This is the meaning of the choices that you will make, by designating the new authorities. 

To vote is obviously a democratic act, but most of all it is impregnated with the responsibility that any choice implies. 

This responsibility belongs to everyone, to the 50 national federations that make up our Union, towards our gymnasts, those at the base of our pyramid, as well as those of the elite. 

It is the responsibility of example, of image that we must give to the general public, to the political, economic and cultural worlds. It is also a model for all our youth.

Together we have spent time thinking about our future. We have identified both the bad things and the remedies. 

Your mission will be to mark the months and years to come, to establish the benchmarks that will lead you to the goals set. 

The exercise is difficult, as the UEG does not control all elements which it will have to take into account: the economic situation, the geopolitical situation, the technological and the cultural changes.

There is also our status as FIG Continental Union and as such, I encourage you all to support its President and his willingness to cultivate a strong international authority, so that the voice of gymnastics keeps its place in the sports world, where each of the disciplines compete fiercely for reputation, audience and advertising revenues. 

The UEG is a stakeholder and primarily concerned with the vitality and good economic health of the FIG.

In Split, I will come back to you on these topics in person, before giving you one last time my recommendations and taking leave of you.