Paralimni was on Wednesday included in the final five bids left standing as it vies to be named the European Youth Capital for 2028.

The town will now have to submit a detailed application outlining an “extensive programme of youth-related cultural, social, and political events and activities” for the whole year of 2028 to the European Youth Forum, by June 17 this year.

Then, it will receive further recommendations on its application, before submitting its final and updated application on October 7.

The application’s final stage will be a presentation to the jury in November, before the winner will be announced.

Paralimni is competing with the Moldovan capital Chisinau, the Dutch town of Leeuwarden, the Bulgarian town of Pernik, and the Montenegrin capital Podgorica.

The towns and cities which did not advance to the final five include Banja Luka in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Turkish cities of Bursa and Mugla, and the Lithuanian capital Vilnius.

The current European Youth Capital is Lviv, in Ukraine, with the Norwegian town of Tromso and the Italian city of Parma set to hold the title in 2026 and 2027 respectively.

Nowhere in Cyprus has ever before been named European Youth Capital. Nicosia bid for the 2021 title but was beaten by the Lithuanian port town of Klaipeda.