Trees from 16 countries competed against each other in 2020 in the European Tree of the Year contest, collecting a total of more than 285,000 votes in February. The Czech Scots pine, the Guardian of the Flooded Village, won the European Tree of the Year title in 2020 pocketing 47,226 votes in the contest, far outstripping its rivals. The silver medal went to Croatia, where the gingko from Daruvár received 28,060 votes, and the Lonely Poplar from Russia with 27,411 votes. The Freedom Tree in Kaposvár, representing Hungary, which won the Hungarian Tree of the Year title with 4431 votes in October 2019, and achieved the 8th place in the European competition. In the 2020 Hungarian competition, the nomination period began on the day of the European results were announced and lasted until 10 May.
