In honour of Europe Day, we presented the citizens with a unique flower carpet, made of 50,000 flower seedlings on 600 square metres on Podgorica’s Independence Square. This is the first carpet of such impressive dimensions ever made in our country, which we managed to realize thanks to teamwork – in cooperation with the City of Podgorica, Zelenilo LLC and other partners. It is inspired by the flower carpet in Brussels, where for decades it adorns the Grand Place in the city centre and is changed biennially.
“This beautiful flower carpet was designed by the landscape architect Jelena Jestorović, who symbolically placed 12 stars, similar to the 12 stars on the flag of the European Union, which represent unity, solidarity and harmony among the peoples of Europe. The flower carpet is made of flowers that are grown locally, because we wanted to help local florists through this project,” said the Ambassador of the European Union to Montenegro, Ms Oana Christina Popa.
Ms Popa invited the citizens to, in accordance with the epidemiological measures, with mandatory masking and keeping social distance, visit the flower carpet and enjoy this unique experience. The carpet will be placed on Independence Square until Sunday evening.
The Ambassador of the European Union to Montenegro also thanked the partners who supported the realization of this project, including the Capital. Mayor Ivan Vuković thanked for the great interest and stated that Independence Square has never looked so beautiful.
“In cooperation with the Delegation of the European Union, the Capital is appropriately marking May 9, one of the most important dates in modern European history, the day when we celebrate Europe Day and Victory Over Fascism Day. As you can see, the town square has probably never looked so beautiful, thanks to a joint action that we realized with the support of colleagues from our company Zelenilo and partners from the Office of the Chief Negotiator. This was a team effort that bore beautiful fruit and more importantly reminded us of all the values that are embedded in the foundations of the European Union: brotherhood, solidarity, equality in diversity and above all anti-fascism. I do not say this by chance, because we live in a time increasingly characterized by historical revisionism, and we, as a country that will, I hope, become the next member state of the European Union, are obliged to contribute to the fight to preserve these values and I think this is a beautiful way to remind ourselves of that “, Vuković pointed out.
The installation of the flower carpet was also supported by the EU project EU4ME, which is being implemented by the Government of Montenegro. Montenegro’s Chief Negotiator with the European Union, Ms Zorka Kordić, is convinced that the citizens and guests of the Capital will enjoy this festivity for all the senses in the next 3 days – a combination of impressive images, the smell of spring and evoking a sense of freedom.
“By celebrating the values of May 9th, we, among other things, confirm our attachment to the European family and universal values. By working on ourselves, every day, diligently and with quality, we prove our European commitment. In that way, we are strengthening the ties that connect Podgorica and Brussels, Montenegro and the European Union, and we respect the wish of our citizens that Montenegro becomes the next member state of the EU,” said Kordić.
The realization of the first flower carpet in Montenegro was also supported by the following partners: Electric Power Industry of Montenegro (EPCG), Tehnomax, Okov, Lovćen Insurance, Montenegrin Commercial Bank (CKB), Nursery Garden Aligrudić, Bild Studio, Union of Young Entrepreneurs, Idea, Kalia, Montenomax, Nergelia and La Viola.
In addition to the flower carpet, on the occasion of Europe Day, we are also organizing a music spectacle – Rock Opera, which will be broadcast live on TVCG, TV Vijesti and TV Prva, on Saturday, May 8th, at 8 p.m. On the same day, the EU will share to the citizens close to 30,000 canvas masks, free of charge, in cooperation with all daily newspapers. Also, as part of Europe Day, the buildings of local and state institutions throughout Montenegro will be illuminated in the colours of the European Union. During the rest of the month, we will also organize the European Film Festival online and a prize game “EU in the Palm of Your Hand”.