19/07/2016 (Agence Europe) - Galway and Rijeka, 2020 capitals of culture. The city of Galway in Ireland and Rijeka in Croatia were designated the 2020 Capitals of culture on 19 July. This was confirmed in a press release by Commissioner Tibor Navracsics, who congratulated the two prizewinners and stated "I am sure that Galway and Rijeka will give visitors from Europe and the whole world the opportunity to discover the cities and what they have to offer culturally, as well as a chance to appreciate the diversity of cultures in the EU and our common values". The European capital of culture label was launched in 1985 and 6 to put cities at the centre of Europe's cultural life. The next capitals of culture will be Aarhus (Denmark) and Pafos (Cyprus) in 2017; Leeuwarden (Netherlands) and Valetta (Malta) in 2018; and Plovdiv (Bulgaria) and Matera (Italy) in 2019. (SPj)