The city now has until June 17 this year to submit a detailed application to the European Youth Forum, which describes an "extensive program of youth-related cultural, social and political events and activities" for the entire year 2028.

Paralimni will then receive further recommendations to improve the application before the revised final version must be submitted on 7 October.

In the final phase of the selection process, a presentation to the jury will take place in November before the winner is announced.

Paralimni will compete against the Moldovan capital Chisinau, the Dutch city of Leeuwarden, the Bulgarian city of Pernik and the Montenegrin capital Podgorica.

Banja Luka in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Turkish cities of Bursa and Mugla and the Lithuanian capital Vilnius, among others, did not make it into the final round.

The current European Youth Capital is Lviv in Ukraine. The Norwegian city of Tromsø and the Italian city of Parma will hold the title in 2026 and 2027, respectively.

Never before has a place in Cyprus been named European Youth Capital. Nicosia applied for the title in 2021, but lost to the Lithuanian port city of Klaipėda.

Source: <a href="https://cyprus-mail.com/2025/04/02/paralimni-reaches-final-five-in-bid-to-be-named-european-youth-capital">CyprusMail.com
Author: Tom Cleaver