Kathimerini English

Samos honored with a European Diploma

- BY TANIA GEORGIOPOU­LOU

Samos has received a European Diploma from the Council of Europe. Besides the prestige associated with this internatio­nal award for protected areas, it will also boost the eastern Aegean island’s profile in Europe.

This means more European tourists and more opportunit­ies for incorporat­ion into European programs, according to Samos Mayor Michalis Angelopoul­os, who says this is the main reason why the island municipali­ty decided to apply for candidacy for the award at the beginning of the year. “Samos is an island on the frontier of Europe. The Council of Europe represents 47 countries with hundreds of thousands of municipali­ties, provinces and communitie­s. With this distinctio­n, Samos has been put on the map of Europe. It’s a way for us to showcase what makes us a unique and desirable place without having to resort to insufferab­le localism,” Angelopoul­os adds.

The Municipali­ty of Samos was recognized as one of seven European municipali­ties that will receive the 2017 European Diploma. This year’s other award winners are the German municipali­ties of Bergkamen and Denzlingen, Italy’s Ponte San Nicolo, Poland’s Ostrow Wielkopols­ki and Morawica and Serbia’s Kikinda (Vojvodina). The institutio­n promotes and recognizes local government­s and cities that promote cooperatio­n and openness with other areas in the fields of education and culture. It also recognizes participat­ion in European and internatio­nal institutio­ns as well as local organizati­ons. It’s an attempt to get European citizens to realize the good that results from cooperatio­n for themselves and the common future of Europe. “If we want to have a common European future, we must get to know one another better, stand together and build upon the things that unite us and the culture that shapes us,” said the mayor of Samos upon accepting the award at a ceremony in Strasbourg.

Samos is the birthplace of the ancient mathematic­ian Pythagoras, astronomer Aristarchu­s and philosophe­r Epicurus and for centuries served as a bridge connecting ideas, culture and products, as well as an internatio­nal trade center. Its geopolitic­al significan­ce is rooted in its proximity to the shores of Asia Minor and the fact that it is the closest European island to Asia. It has already submitted its applicatio­n to become a cultural capital of Europe in 2021.

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