She said that the cities selected all showed a serious attitude. Many of the applications were original and some of them were cross-border initiatives, which she welcomed.

She said the panel was positively surprised to see that six cities applied for the title, which she said was a lot for such "a small, but otherwise big, country".

Two cities, Kranj and Lendava, were eliminated today. The final pick is to be announced in December.

Farinha also noted that the EU's next multi-year budget was being negotiated at the moment, advising cities to make the best use of this opportunity to get funds.

Zoran Stančič, the head of the European Commission's office in Slovenia, noted that in 2025 Slovenia would get the title for the second time. In 2012, when Maribor was the European Capital of Culture the entire year was marked by this, he said.