As part of the state visit of the President of Latvia to Portugal, today in the city of Évora a Memorandum of understanding between the 2027 European Capitals of Culture - Évora and Liepāja - was solemnly signed. The Memorandum was signed in the presence of the President of Latvia Egils Levits by the Mayor of Évora Mr Carlos Pinto de Sá and the Mayor of Liepāja Mr Gunārs Ansiņš.
Congratulating the cities on signing the Memorandum of understanding, the President of Latvia noted that the European Capitals of Culture are one of the success stories of the European Union: "Today, Évora and Liepāja are separated by 3981 kilometres, but in 2027 we will be able to say that the two cities are virtually not separated by distance, but are brought closer by contacts between citizens, deep cultural dialogue on the common European identity and on the different cultural heritage of each nation and plans for the future".
The Mayor of Liepāja, addressing the audience, emphasized that the signing of the Memorandum will give an opportunity to get to know each other better in the north and south of Europe. "My dream for the European Capital of Culture project is to connect the north and south of Europe, to deepen the dialogue with the city's residents, with the residents of Evora and Europe," said Mr Ansiņš.
The plans of the creative teams of "Liepāja 2027" and "Évora_2027" for the European Capitals of Culture project were presented to the audience. Inta Šoriņa, Chairperson of the Board of "Liepāja 2027", spoke about them on behalf of Liepāja.
