The first edition of the Games took place in Azerbaijan's capital Baku in 2015 before Minsk in Belarus played host in 2019.

Kraków-Małopolska in Poland is set to be the third to stage the quadrennial event as the Games continue to make themselves known to the international sporting community.

"I think it's normal that more countries now want to host the European Games," Capralos told insidethegames here where the Flame of Peace for next year's Winter European Youth Olympic Festival was lit.

"We already have a list of candidates for 2027 and even 2031, so I think that the future of the European Games is assured."

When asked if he was confident of securing western countries such as France, Spain, and Portugal as hosts, Capralos said: "I cannot say because some of the countries that you mentioned are interested in organising."

The early versions are thought to have laid the foundations for the EOC to establish the event in the multi-sport calendar and market hosting it as a prosperous opportunity.

"We started in the east and we are very thankful and grateful to the first hosts because it gave us the opportunity to organise the European Games at a very high level, the quality was incredibly good," Capralos said.

"I think when you start with a new event, you need to have people believe in it and now it seems that the whole of Europe and the whole of the sports world has believed in the European Games.

"This has made it become a strong continental Games, providing lots of qualifications for the Olympic Games and also being a European Championships for many sports participating.

"So now we have the battle of the sports because more sports want to enter our programme."

The Kraków-Małopolska 2023 European Games is scheduled to be held from June 21 to July 2 next year with 26 sports expected to feature on the programme.