These three Hungarian cities are the finalists for the European Capital of Culture title

24.hu reports that the three finalists for the European Capital of Culture have been chosen. Altogether seven cities applied.

The independent professional jury has chosen the projects handed in for the tender by Debrecen, Győr and Veszprém. These cities are competing to represent Hungary at the European Capital of Culture 2023 project.

The experts of the European Commission have gathered at Budapest recently to pick out the best three to be shortlisted out of the seven tenderers (Debrecen, Eger, Gödöllő, Győr, Székesfehérvár, Szombathely, Veszprém) – according to Anikó Krucsainé Herter, under-secretary deputy responsible for cultural relations and developments at the Ministry of Human Resources.

The chairman of the Hungarian agency of the European Commission Zupkó Gábor emphasised that the European Capital of Culture project is a very good example for the understanding and compliance within the European Union regarding the most important questions. One of the important aspects on which

the EU members agree that strong national identity is complemented by European identity, which is upheld among many others by cultural heritage.

The European Capital of Culture is one of the most popular European cultural projects, where another Hungarian city, Pécs, won the title of the Capital in 2010.

The chairman of the independent professional jury Aiva Rozenberga stated that the judges chose the tenders of Debrecen, Győr and Veszprém. The plans were evaluated by six criteria. The most important aspect was what a given city could show Europe and what is it that it can learn from Europe.

The deputy chairman of the jury Csaba Káel told MTI that two out of the twelve jury members were Hungarians. Thus the seven applicants could prove their cultural values to an international group. According to Káel,

the applicants can use the cultural strategies submitted by them even if they do not win the title of the European Capital of Culture 2023.

The jury’s suggestion for the shortlist will be finalised with the government decision, following this, the three ‘contestants’ can work further on their tenders. The jury will reassemble at the end of 2018 to choose the finalist city which will represent Hungary.

Source: 24.hu