In a lavish and emotional Opening Ceremony, EuroBasket 2005 officially opened Thursday night at the posh Kalemegdan Fortress in Belgrade, Serbia Montenegro in the presence of many dignitaries and celebrities.

The highlight of the ceremony came during the official opening of the event. FIBA Europe President George Vassilakopoulos presented FIBA Secretary General Emeritus and Serbian native Borislav Stankovic with a gift in recognition of his contributions to global basketball throughout the decades. In a surprising and unprecedented gesture, Vassilakopoulos invited Stankovic to open the games. A visibly emotionally moved Stankovic then officially declared EuroBasket 2005 open.

		The Opening Ceremony concluded with a thunderous fireworks show

Following the marching of the participating teams, Miodrag Babic, President of the Serbia Montenegro Basketball Federation, and Vojislav Kostunica, President of Serbia Montenegro, also made opening speeches.
 
The Opening Ceremony began with a video montage on the walls of the fortress highlighting the themes of Move, Play, Feel Love and Start. The images for each category, which included a history of European basketball, children wearing jerseys of the participating teams and other celebrations, were projected as dancers entertained in between the fortress walls.

Youth played a major role in the ceremony. Along with the images from the video presentation, a children's basketball event took place and the symbolic first basket of EuroBasket 2005 was made by Dusan Stankovic, MVP of a youth tournament recently held in Belgrade.

The Opening Ceremony concluded with a thunderous fireworks show.