On 22 March, the European Tree of the Year 2022 closing ceremony and awards presentation took place in Brussels, within the premises of the Permanent Representation of the Czech Republic to the European Union (press release in English). It should be noted that this event actually also included the 2020 and 2021 competitions, the representatives of whose winners received their awards in person, as the closing event had been held remotely for two years due to COVID-19 restrictions. The recording of the ceremony can be watched on YouTube (Ceremony), starting from 2:06:30.

The 2022 vote saw a record-breaking number of voters in the history of the competition – 769,212, with the Oak, Guardian of the Białowieża Forest (Dąb Dunin) receiving 179,317 votes. Second place in the 2022 vote went to the Oak in the Bank of Spain Forest from Spain (168,274 votes), and third to the Great Cork Oak from Portugal (70,563).

As is known, Latvia participated in the competition for the first time, and our Aģe Oak successfully secured 27,098 votes, which is respectable for a first year of participation and the given circumstances. In Latvia, the competition was organised by the Forest Certification Council of Latvia and the Latvian Forest Owners' Association. It should be recalled that voting took place from 1 to 28 February; on 22 February, in accordance with the rules, the voting results were hidden, and it was during these days that Russia invaded Ukraine. Regarding the hostilities, an extraordinary case in the history of the competition must be mentioned – the representative of the aggressor state, Turgenev's Oak, was excluded; while it was mentioned at the ceremony, this oak was the only one in all the images that was shown in black and white.

In conversations with representatives from Poland and Portugal, we concluded that the winning trees in each country are strongly supported not only by those who nominated the oak for the competition and the respective country's competition organisers, but also by the local communities and municipalities where the remarkable tree is located. Furthermore, there is an idea to include the trees that have participated (been nominated) in the European Tree of the Year competition in each country's tourism information circulation, because the trees not only have an interesting story and history, but they are definitely worth visiting in person.

Brussels is unimaginable without its various EU structures and representations, and unfortunately, without its political bureaucracy. In the speeches at the closing event, just as in Latvia, it could be observed that neither winds nor wars, nor anything else will change the course of the bureaucratic steamroller – an assistant to the European Commissioner for Environment, Oceans and Fisheries, Virginijus Sinkevičius, repeated the percentages that must be protected, and the regulations and strategies that must be adopted in his speech, pointing out quite directly who those are who are far from the land and the trees, but know best. On the other hand, the representative of the European Landowners' Organization emphasised and reminded us that seeds must be sown, and that trees, forests, and fields must be tended to.
*the original name of the oak is Dunin; the person who nominated the oak for the competition from Poland was very pleased that we in Latvia chose a more metaphorical name, as the oak truly is like a guardian at the edge of the Białowieża Forest