Commissioner Kos hosts first ever Youth Policy Dialogue on Enlargement with Commissioner Micallef at the first cross-border European Capital of Culture Nova Gorica/Gorizia

Tomorrow, Commissioner Marta Kos will host her first Youth Policy Dialogue on Enlargement ‘Breaking Barriers - Bridging Borders - Growing Together' in Nova Gorica (Slovenia), together with Commissioner Glenn Micallef. The event brings together 40 young people (aged 18-30) from across the EU and all the EU's enlargement countries, as well as from Armenia, Azerbaijan and Belarus. They will exchange views, raise questions, share their ideas and suggestions with the Commissioners, and contribute to shaping policies that matter to them—reinforcing the EU's commitment to empowering its next generation.

This milestone dialogue takes place alongside the historic opening ceremony of Nova Gorica (Slovenia) and Gorizia (Italy) as the first-ever cross-border European Capital of Culture. Under the powerful slogan ‘GO! Borderless', the two cities—once divided by history—now stand as a symbol of unity, cooperation, and a shared European future. As part of the ceremony, Commissioner Micallef will award Nova Gorica the €1.5 million Melina Mercouri Prize, funded under the Creative Europe programme, in recognition of the quality of their preparations for the year.

On Sunday, 9 February, Commissioners Kos and Micallef will also meet with the ministers of Culture of the Western Balkans, to discuss how to form closer international cultural ties between the EU and the Western Balkans and how to better support culture in the region, as part of the enlargement process.
More information on the Youth Policy Dialogue on Enlargement is available here. Photographs of the Youth Policy Dialogue on Enlargement will be posted here.
(For more information: Guillaume Mercier – Tel.: +32 2 298 05 64; Eirini Zarkadoula – Tel.: +32 2 295 70 65)