The preselection meeting, during which the Greek cities bidding for the title of the European Capital of Culture in Greece in the year 2021 presented their candidacy, ended on Friday, 26th February 2016.

The preselection meeting, organised by the Directorate of International Relations and European Union of the Hellenic Ministry of Culture and Sports, took place at a central hotel in Athens, from the 23rd to the 26th of February 2016.

The Greek cities which presented their bid-books in front of the twelve-member panel of experts (10 members nominated by the E.U. institutions and 2 national experts), were the following: Corfu, Delphi, Eleusis, Ioannina, Kalamata, Larissa, Lesvos, Messolonghi, Piraeus, Rhodes, Salamis, Samos, Tripolis and Volos.

During the press conference, which took place at the Auditorium of the Hellenic Ministry of Culture and Sports, with the participation of representatives from the Ministry, after the assessment of the bid-books of the Greek candidate cities, the Chairperson of the panel of experts, Mr Steve Green, announced the names of the shortlisted cities as follows:

• Eleusis
• Kalamata
• Rhodes

The above-mentioned cities are requested to submit their amended bid-books, after the relevant recommendations from the experts in order for them to participate in the final selection meeting for the designation of a Greek city as a European Capital of Culture in 2021, which is to be held in November 2016.

The Minister of Culture and Sports, Mr Aristides Baltas, during the press announcement, congratulated all the cities which had participated in the bidding process and wished luck to the shortlisted ones, while pointing out that hosting the institution is a national project which exceeds the narrow local borders of the designated city and promotes the culture of the entire country.