On Friday, 11th November 2016 the Final Selection Meeting of the candidate Greek cities that have claimed the title of the Cultural Capital of Europe in 2021, in Greece, was completed. The meeting took place between the 10th and 11th November 2016, at ELECTRA PALACE Hotel, under the supervision of the Department of International Relations and European Union of the Ministry of Culture and Sports.
The cities that had presented their revised bid books to the twelve-member Committee of Experts (10 members from the institutions of the EU and two Greek experts) were the following: Elefsina, Kalamata and Rhodes.
The announcement took place at the Ministry auditorium in the presence of the Minister of Culture and Sports, Ms Lydia Koniordou, the Secretary General of the Ministry of Culture and Sports, Ms Maria Andreadaki-Vlazaki and the representative of the European Commission, Mr Karel Bartak. After the completion of the selection procedure, the President of the 12-member European Expert Committee, Mr. Steve Green, announced that the title of the institution of the Cultural Capital of Europe was awarded to Elefsina.
The Minister of Culture and Sports, Ms Lydia Koniordou, during the press announcement, congratulated all three cities shortlisted during the pre-selection meeting (20-26/2/2016), especially Elefsina, which took the title of the ECOC for the year 2021.