On the occasion of celebrating the days of city’s patrons – the Holy Emperor Constantine and Empress Helen and in the honor of Nis citizens and the guests of the City of Nis, the central ceremony was held at Officers’ Mess Building. The audience was addressed by His Grace Bishop of Nis Arsenije and Nis City Mayor Darko Bulatovic congratulating their fellow citizens the days of the city’s patrons using the opportunity to draw the attention to the importance of the work of Constantine the Great and the connections that exist between past and present. Historian Nebojsa Ozimic, a writer or co-author of several books on Emperor Constantine spoke of the establishment of the Holy Emperor Constantine and Empress Jelena as a city festivity.

After the recently signed Protocol on Twinning between the City of Nis and the City of Serres and according to the agreement of the signatories, the Protocol was also verified today in Nis, in front of the city councilors and city officials, who voted in the city parliament to formalize the relations between two cities. “For 150 years now, Serbia and Greece have, not only friendly, but also genuine brotherly relations, and our two nations have always been allies, on the same side of history. Whenever necessary, we stood by each other. The closeness of the two nations and the two countries has been confirmed many times over the 150-year long relationship between Serbia and Greece. Greece is still a true friend and partner of Serbia on the European path. One cannot take good relations fro granted, good relations have to be nurtured, they are being built, and today’s signing of the Protocol on Cooperation between the City of Serres and the City of Nis is a confirmation of the desire to consolidate and improve everything that has so far connected us, ” Mayor Bulatovic said. Mayor of Serres Mr. Petros Agelidis said that he was very honored to be in Nis together with his associates at the time of the city festivities and that the Twinning Protocol was verified on this special occasion.

Today is the Day of the Holy Emperor Constantine and Empress Helen – the holy patrons of the City of Nis. The morning liturgy was held at the Church of Holy Emperor Constantine and Empress Helen attended by Nis City Mayor Darko Bulatovic with his associates and other city officials as well as the guest from the twin cities of Nis, the representative of army and police forces.

The vigil at the Church of Holy Emperor Constantine and Empress Helen and the handing over of the Labarum marked the beginning of the celebration in the honor of the city patrons Holy Emperor Constantine and Empress Helen. The Bishop of Nis Aresenije delivered the service on this occasion which was attended by city officials, church officials, the foreign delegation representatives, as well as large number of Nis citizens.

Nis City Mayor Darko Bulatovic and the Nis City Council Member for Culture Jelena Mitrovska welcomed the delegations from Vienna and Turkish Izmit at the reception held at Nis City Hall on the occasion of opening the Exhibition entitled Great Places of World History. Prof. Piero Bordin, the founder and the director of the Festival and Symposium Art Carnuntum, initiated 10 years ago a unique series of international events “The Emperors of Carnuntum – They Changed the World”. This project was also one of the reasons of the European Commission for awarding Carnuntum with the European heritage label.  Great Places Of World History Exhibition is also the part of this project and Nis/Naissus – birthplace of Constantine the Great –has been the partner in the since the beginning. This year is the European Year of Cultural Heritage. Also this year is the 70^th anniversary of the Declaration of the Human Rights by the United Nations in Paris on December 10^th, 1948. Both events have a connection to the Exhibition Great Places of World History. The Mayor stressed that he expected that co-operation between the partners in the project would continue with new activities related to marking the 70^th anniversary of the adoption of the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Professor Piero Bordin emphasized that he expected all cities which have benn involved in the project so far to work together on the project continuation .He pointed out that the Edict of Milan published in 313 could be considered thew origin of the Article No 18 of the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

The guests of the City of Nis on the occasion of celebrating city festivities – the Day of

the Holy Emperor Constantine and Empress Helena were the representatives of the the twin city city of Kursk from Russia, Mr. Maslov Yevgeny, a councilor of the Kursk Assembly and a member of the Construction Committee and Mr. Yevdokimov Dmitry, also a councilor in the Kursk city council and the chairman of the Committee for Development of Small and Medium Enterprises and the innovation policy of the Kursk regional assembly. The guests thanked for the hospitality and expressed their hope that the cooperation between two cities would intensify in the future.