The prize, awarded by the European Parliament, recognises work on promoting mutual understanding and European unity.
"Unfortunately, the government is slow in many situations, but that's why there are good people, in this case good women, who were the first to come to the aid of the people of Petrinja and Banovina" after a string of earthquakes struck the region in late 2020, Matić said.
Matić said he was immensely grateful and proud of them. "There are not many opportunities for me to be happy and proud as a Croatian representative, but this is one of them."
The prize was accepted by the President of the Foundation's Board of Governors, Sanja Sarnavka, President of the Foundation's Council Marina Ajduković and Programme Coordinator Karla Pudar.
Ajduković said that the prize was an encouragement to their further work and cooperation. She added that any emergency such as an earthquake is a chance for people to demonstrate their solidarity and humanity.
Sarnavka said that there were hundreds if not thousands of people behind this prize who had helped this association financially and materially and made it possible for it to continue helping people in need.
The prize will also be presented to representatives of the Foundation at a ceremony in Brussels.
Fund 5.5 was established after the March 2020 earthquake in Zagreb to provide financial support to socially vulnerable people. It was reactivated after the earthquakes in Sisak-Moslavina County in December of the same year.
The organisation raised over HRK 17.2 million (€2.3m) for more than 1,200 families affected by the earthquakes. Support included one-off financial assistance, housing assistance and property repairs. HRK 1.2 million (€160,000) was invested in the development of local communities and education facilities in the earthquake and poverty-stricken region.
The prize, created in 2008, is awarded to national winners in each EU member state. The Croatian recipients so far are: Martina Čuljak with the Help Balkans project (2014), the Croatian Mountain Rescue Service (2015), the humanitarian association Fra Mladen Hrkać (2016), the Transplant association and Tvrtko Barun as the director of the Jesuit Refugee Service in Southeast Europe (2017), the Croatian Scout Association (2020), and NeuroSplit with the project With One Dream United (2021). The prize was not awarded in 2019 because of elections for the ninth European Parliament.