Brussels, 21/12/2010 (Agence Europe) - Turku (Finland) and Tallinn (Estonia) are to be the European Capitals of Culture in 2011. The opening ceremony in Tallinn will be held on New Year's Eve and on 15 January in Turku. “The European Capital of Culture event is one of the European Union's most prestigious culture-related initiatives. It has shown its potential in terms of job creation, urban regeneration and creativity, and its attractiveness at European level,” said Education, Culture, Multilingualism and Youth Commissioner Androulla Vassiliou. Many events will take place throughout the year in the two cities, which have already demonstrated their enthusiasm for the event as in autumn 2010, they were awarded the Melina Mercouri Prize (worth €1.5 million) in recognition of the quality of their preparations. In 2012, the European Capitals of Culture will be Guimarães (Portugal) and Maribor (Slovenia). Marseilles (France) and Košice (Slovakia) will hold the title in 2013, followed by Umeå (Sweden) and Riga (Latvia) in 2014, and Mons (Belgium) and Plzeò (Czech Republic) in 2015. (I.L./transl.rt)