Azerbaijan’s city of Ganja will be European youth capital in 2016, press service of the Ministry of Youth and Sport told APA.
The European Youth Forum first realized European youth capital project in 2009. Rotterdam was the first European youth capital (Netherlands – 2009), it was followed by Turin (Italy – 2010), Antwerp (Belgium – 2011), Braga (Portugal – 2012), Maribor (Slovenia – 2013), Thessaloniki (Greece – 2014), Cluj-Napoca (Romania -2015).
European Youth Forum is the platform of the national youth councils and international non-governmental youth organisations in Europe. This is the biggest youth confederation in Europe. Based in Brussels, Belgium, the organization was established in 1996. it consists of 40 National Youth Councils and 57 international youth NGOs,
Among the countries that applied for the title of European Youth Capital on April 10, 2013, six countries were qualified for the final.
Badajoz (Spain)
Galway (Ireland)
Ganja (Azerbaijan)
Laguna (Spain)
Varna (Bulgaria)
Vilnius (Lithuania)
Coruña (Spain), Gran Canaria (Spain), Konya (Turkey), Limassol (Cyprus) and Plovdiv (Bulgaria) had also applied for the title of the European Youth Capital 2016.
Ganja won the competition and was officially declared European Youth Capital in the Thessaloniki, Greece. Among the candidates Azerbaijan is the only country that is not the member of the European Union.
