Blaž Peršin, director of the City Museum and Galleries of Ljubljana, who received the prize, said that the jury was impressed with the presentation.

At the gala award ceremony in Berlin, German President Frank Walter Steinmeier underlined the importance of common European heritage in these uncertain times, emphasizing that it can serve as a source of inspiration and strength for a common European future. President of Europa nostra, Placido Domingo, thanked all those who care for the European cultural heritage in his speech, referring to them as guardian angels of our exceptional past, without which there is no common future.

European cultural heritage may bring to one's mind boring old stones and the smell of foul air in the museum. Yet, it is anything but that, added Steinmeier. Our common, European heritage goes beyond the boundaries of the national. It represents orientation and inspiration of our exceptional continent for a common future. Europe must urgently lean on itself, it must be unified about what it wants and what it is capable of, and must use its own strength, its capabilities, it must show self-confidence and strengthen unity.