Addressing guests at the ceremony, including Croatian Ambassador to Italy Tomislav Vidosevic and Croatia's honorary consul in the capital of the central Italian region of Tuscany, Alessandra Fusi, the Sabor Speaker expressed satisfaction with bilateral economic relations.
"I would like to emphasise that Italy is the most important trade partner of Croatia," Seks said, adding that cooperation in culture and education contributed to the strengthening of Croatian-Italian relations.
Seks said that the opening of the consulate in Florence also had a symbolical meaning as its inauguration coincided with celebrations marking the 50th anniversary of the Treaty of Rome that paved the way for the current European Union.
"On this occasion I would like to thank Italy for its consistent and persistent support to Croatia on its path towards the European Union, and I hope that Croatia will reach its destination by the end of this decade," Seks said.
The consulate in Florence is the seventh Croatian diplomatic office at that level in Italy.
There are consulates-general in Trieste and Milan and another four honorary consulates in Naples, Bari, Padua and Mundimitro in the Molise province, populated by ethnic Croats for several centuries.
Later in the day Seks leaves Florence for Rome to attend tomorrow's celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Rome of Treaty that established the European Economic Community in 1957.
Italian Senate Speaker Franco Marini has invited heads of parliaments from 27 European Union member-states and candidate countries Croatia, Turkey and Macedonia, to attend the ceremony in Rome.