The 2022 European Youth Olympic Festival Flame is transferred to a safety lamp ©ITG

The "Flame of Peace" for the 2022 European Youth Olympic Festival in the Slovakian town of Banska Bystrica has began its journey from the temple of Ara Pacis in Rome, as European Olympic Committees President Spyros Capralos insisted it had a particular significance in 2022.

"Each time we host this magical event, the Flame of Peace is lit as a beacon of hope and optimism for people all over Europe," Capralos said.

"However, this time the message has taken on an even greater importance with the war in Ukraine showing no sign of coming to an end.

Seventeen-year-old volleyball player Alexandra Fričová and volunteer Tomas Kubica brought the Flame to the Ara Pacis ©ITG
Seventeen-year-old volleyball player Alexandra Fričová and volunteer Tomas Kubica brought the Flame to the Ara Pacis ©ITG

"The crisis remains at the forefront of all our minds and we pray every day that peace immediately returns," Capralos told officials who had gathered to watch the ceremony.

"I am proud of the way the European Olympic Family especially Slovakia has stood firmly in solidarity with Ukraine."

The Ukrainian flag was among those of the competing nations trooped into the ceremony by choristers.

Seventeen-year-old Slovakian volleyball player Alexandra Fričová and Tomas Kubica, representative of the volunteer force at the Games, carried the Flame up the steps towards the front of the temple before European Youth Olympic Festival (EYOF) 2022 President Jan Nosko officially took custody of the Flame in a safety lamp.

Violinist Valentino Alessandrini joined the choir in the musical finale to the ceremony ©ITG
Violinist Valentino Alessandrini joined the choir in the musical finale to the ceremony ©ITG

"Everybody has a couple of minutes when you feel special and this is a really special moment in my life," Nosko told insidethegames.

"The responsibility is a big challenge for our city, we are not a big metropolis, so inviting so many sports events is going to be a really big challenge for us."

The ceremony had begun with a performance of "Va Pensiero", also known as "the chorus of the Hebrew Slaves" from the opera Nabucco by Italian composer Guiseppe Verdi.

Slovak National Olympic Committee President Anton Siekel and Nosko were also presented with a golden tree, a piece created by the renowned goldsmith Nicola Amato.

A model carries the golden olive tree which will be handed on to successive EYOF host cities ©ITG
A model carries the golden olive tree which will be handed on to successive EYOF host cities ©ITG

The tree is to be handed to each successive host city in a new EYOF tradition.

The ceremony had been introduced by Massi Rossolini, Olympic swimming 200 metres individual medley gold medallist at Sydney 2000, who had won European Youth Olympic gold as a teenager in 1993.

The Games were originally established in 1991, and at the suggestion of future International Olympic Committee President Jacques Rogge, they were originally known as "European Youth Olympic Days" and were first held in Brussels.

These are scheduled to be the first summer EYOF events since Rogge’s death last August.

The 2022 Games are scheduled to begin in Banska Bystrica in Slovakia on July 24.