04/01/2019 (Agence Europe) – A new year means a new European Capital of Culture. In 2019, Plovdiv in Bulgaria and Matera in Italy will defend this title, succeeding Valletta (Malta) and Leeuwarden (Netherlands). This is a first for Bulgaria since its accession to the EU 12 years ago. "The European Capital of Culture initiative brings people together and highlights the role of culture in building a European identity. Both cities will help ensure a long-term impact of last year's successful European Year of Cultural Heritage", said European Commissioner for Culture Tibor Navracsics in a statement issued on 3 January. After Plovdiv and Matera, the next European Capitals of Culture will be Rijeka (Croatia) and Galway (Ireland) in 2020, Timisoara (Romania), Eleusis (Greece) and Novi Sad (Serbia, candidate country) in 2021 and Esch (Luxembourg) and Kaunas (Lithuania) in 2022. (SPj)