Poczta Polska's winning stamp featured the Lynx (see below), while Åland Post's stamp were of two moor frogs and finally, Ukrposhta's stamp featured the disappearing Carpathian mountain forests and how that affects its wildlife.

Having as theme "National Endangered Wildlife", a total of 53 entries took part in this year's EUROPA competition. Studying and protecting endangered species is vital for our biodiversity. Hence, PostEurop joined forces with the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), to help raise awareness on the sensitive topic.

The results of this year’s online EUROPA Stamp competition were disclosed during the virtual PostEurop Plenary Assembly in which, Poczta Polska (Poland), Åland Post (Åland) and SC Ukrposhta (Ukraine) were revealed as the top three winners, respectively. 

"This year’s 'Most beautiful EUROPA stamps' competition dedicated to 'Endangered national wildlife' was very exciting as new rules were implemented. With a great support from PostEurop, our Members actively engaged in 2021 EUROPA stamp communication campaign, which contributed to growing awareness of animals threatened to go extinct in Europe. All EUROPA stamps presented the rich diversity of European wildlife including little beetles, nocturnal reptiles, wondrous birds and big mammals. We found creative stamp designs combining subtle artistic sensibility and deep reflection on the value of the respective natural heritage which reminds us of our responsibility to ecological sustainability. Enjoying the crucial mission with stamp collectors, we are attracting our local societies and all enthusiasts of wildlife to the topic. I would like to thank everyone for engaging in the 2021 EUROPA stamps competition and we are looking forward to a fabulous 2022 EUROPA “Stories & myths” issue!" said Agnieszka Trząskowska, Chair of the PostEurop Stamps and Philately working group from Poczta Polska S.A.

“Following a decision last year, PostEurop Members reshaped the format of the entire EUROPA Stamps Competition, making it more dynamic, competitive and appealing for philatelists around the globe. Votes that determine the winning stamps were divided into three equal parts, counting the weight between the votes of public (online), postal operators and jury experts. As president of this group of jury experts, I am quite pleased with the outcome of this refreshing new era for the EUROPA Stamps Competition, which I am sure will help improve the overall value of philately. Postal operators once again showed how their creative teams managed to perfectly combine modern printing techniques with beautiful illustrations that deliver an extremely powerful message to current and future generations, on the importance of wildlife conservancy and environmental sustainability efforts at large" added Botond Szebeny, PostEurop Secretary General.

Congratulations to all the winners and we look forward to next year’s theme “Stories & Myths”.

More about EUROPA Stamps
Since 1956, EUROPA stamps have been a symbol of Europe’s desire for closer integration and cooperation. These special stamps are issued by the European postal administrations/enterprises and bear the EUROPA logo, a PostEurop registered trademark. Since 1993, PostEurop has been the responsible organisation for issuing EUROPA stamps and each year, philately experts within the Stamps and Philately working group organise the competition amongst other philately initiatives.

See more information on www.posteurop.org/europa

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For more information, please contact:

Cynthia WEE-NEUMANN 
Communications Manager
T: +2 2 773 11 92
cynthia.wee@posteurop.org

André Feio
Communications Assistant
T: +2 2 773 11 54
communications@posteurop.org

POSTEUROP is the association which represents European public postal operators. It is committed to supporting and developing a sustainable and competitive European postal communication market accessible to all customers and ensuring a modern and affordable universal service. Our Members represent 2.0 million employees across Europe and deliver to 800 million customers daily through over 175,000 counters.

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