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Zagreb - The Fr. Mladen Hrkać charity organisation was officially presented with the European Citizen's Prize on Friday during a special ceremony in parliament.
The prize is awarded to people and organisations from European Union member countries for their contribution to European cooperation and the promotion of common values, the European Parliament's information office in Croatia said.
The prize medal was presented to the president of the NGO, Ivan Soldo, by Croatian MEP Davor Ivo Stier who had originally nominated the Fr. Mladen Hrkać association for the award.
“The European Parliament promotes the values of freedom, rule of law, democracy and particularly solidarity," Stier said, adding that this NGO constantly promoted humanity and solidarity through its work and that it worked to bring the people of Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina closer. Soldo said that the prize was a mark of recognition of their work as well as motivation to continue their work.
The official award ceremony was concluded by the host, parliament speaker Željko Reiner who thanked Stier for nominating this association after recognising it for its European and human values. The Fr. Mladen Hrkać association (HUMH) was established in 2012 and helps people from Bosnia and Herzegovina with health issues and their families who come to Zagreb for medical treatment offering accommodation, food and co-financing transport costs and so on during their stay.
The European Parliament has honoured 50 people and organisations from 26 EU countries with this year's Citizen's Prize for their contribution to European cooperation and the promotion of common values. The national award ceremonies will be followed by a central ceremony, to be held in October 2016 in the European Parliament in Brussels.