On that occasion, the head of the European Commission Representation to Croatia, Branko Baricevic, commended the project initiated by Karlovac County's department for European affairs, international and regional cooperation which included the embassies of ten European Union countries and the European Commission.
The European Park symbolises the EU, said Baricevic, who was nominated as the sponsor of the planted oak tree. Baricevic said that he was pleased to accept this honour because he is personally connected to the Prasnik special reserve of forest vegetation near his home town of Nova Gradiska.
Prasnik is a rainforest of oak trees and the tree planted today comes from an acorn of the largest oak tree in it and Europe. The tree is 39.6 metres high and has a trunk with a diameter of 7.82 metres.
"This event symbolises the size, strength and unity of the European Union and we hope that it develops well as a model of cooperation and solidarity, which is the foundation of the EU, a living and dynamic tissue," Baricevic said.
Speaking on behalf of the Ministry of Regional Development and European Union Funds, State Secretary Spomenka Djuric said she expected the symbolic planting of seedlings that will grow to represent "growth in the amounts drawn from the European Union."
The embassies of Germany, Bulgaria, Slovenia, Spain, Denmark, Slovakia, France, Finland, Poland and Italy participated in the project to create the European Park with its paths, benches, solar lighting and seedlings of 14 varieties of trees.
The project was realised in cooperation with Karlovac County, the county's info-centre "Europe Direct Karlovac", city authorities, the school of forestry, the Zelenilo company and Croatian Forests as well as the conservation department in the Ministry of Culture.