Nis City Mayor Darko Bulatovic met today with the Ambassador of Sweden Mr. Jan Lundin on the occasion of his visit to Nis. The direct reason for the visit of the Swedish ambassador is the preparation of the big music festival for children Serbia in the Rhythm of Europe that would be held in Nis in June. This music festival is jointly assisted by the embassies of European countries in Serbia, since each of the city participants represented a country from Europe by singing in the language of those countries. Serbia and Sweden have excellent diplomatic relations. There are a lot of Serbs living in Sweden. As a developed but primarily responsible country, Sweden is helping Serbia in its efforts to integrate into the European Union, and many projects of importance for infrastructure modernization are supported by Sweden. Two officials discussed the cooperation between two countries and especially the projects implemented in Nis and assisted by Sweden.

The contracts were signed today with grantees within the project “Support to Socio-economic Stability in the Western Balkan Region” implemented by the German organization Help. Through the allocation of grants in equipment, business and vocational training, networking and mentoring, project activities will contribute to economic empowerment of the target group, reducing poverty and increasing employment opportunities, using mechanisms to enhance the development of micro businesses in targeted cities and municipalities. The target groups of the project are startup, micro and small businesses, unemployed young people, women, national minorities, people with disabilities and less employable population categories. The overall goal of the program is to increase the capacity of economically and socially vulnerable groups of the population and their full involvement in society. The specific objectives of the program are to reduce poverty among economically vulnerable groups, increase access to the labor market of convicted and former convicted persons and better inclusion of Roma in society.

Local campaigns to support the integration of migrants have begun in seven cities with the largest number of migrants in Serbia, Subotica, Sremska Mitrovica, Sid, Belgrade, Nis, Vranje and Presevo, Civil society organizations from these cities will, together with local networks for supporting refugee integration, organize activities to reduce the social distance between the local and migrant population and point to the needs and problems of migrants. The meeting of representatives of NGOs and city institutions on the issue of reducing the distance between migrants and the local population was held in NiS today. Nis City Council Member for Social Care Issues Tijana Djordjevic Ilic said that the city, in accordance with its possibilities, helped the inclusion of migrant children in elementary schools and that many children from migrant families attended classes at the school in Bela Palanka. So far, 2200 migrants have passed through the center in Divljana, and 8 babies were born.

In the period from January to March this year, the total number of tourists who visited our city has increased by 12 % compared to the same period last year. The number of domestic tourists increased by 7 %, while the number of foreign guests, according to the Statistical Office of the Republic of Serbia, increased by 16 %. The number of overnight stays for the same period increased 13 % compared to the previous year, and now it amounts to 33 389, with the number of overnight stays of domestic tourists increasing by 17%, and foreign by 9%. When it comes to the countries of origin of foreign guests, in the first quarter of this year, the largest number of tourists in Nis came from neighboring countries Bulgaria and Greece. However the number of foreign guests from China, Macedonia and Sweden was also noticeable. The largest number of tourists visited Nis in March, when the total number of guests increased by 22 % compared to the same period last year.

National Library Stevan Sremac in Nis celebrated 139 years of existence and work. At the ceremonial academy held in the library premises the audience was greeted by Nis City Council Member Jelena Mitrovski on the behalf of the City of Nis. She pointed out the special mission that the library had in building the system of values ​​for younger generations and congratulated the jubilee to all employees in this institution. The special guest of the National Library Stevan Sremac was Matija Beckovic and in the honor of the anniversary, the exhibition of photographs and records from the life of this great Serbian writer was also organized.

The delegations from 16 countries of Southeast Europe are staying in Nis attending the meeting of the International Council of the Folklore Festivals and Folklore Art. The delegates were welcomed at the reception at Nis City Hall by Nis City Council Member Jelena Mitrovska who wished them a successful work and pleasant stay in our city. On this occasion Ms. Mitrovska pointed out that she was very happy that such a gathering, which was being organized for the first time in Serbia, was happening in Nis, and that this was an opportunity to get to know all our guests and to present to them our culture and history. The meeting in Nis was organized by the National Section of CIOFF Serbia in cooperation with the Student Cultural Center Nis, and on that occasion, on Saturday, a large concert of six folklore ensembles of Serbia would be organized at Nis National Theater. More than 50 delegates from Portugal, Spain, Italy, France, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Switzerland, Montenegro, Macedonia, Albania, Bulgaria, Greece, Cyprus, Azerbaijan, Cypriot Cyprus and Serbia gathered in Nis to discuss the folklore festivals organized by this organization throughout Europe. At the same time, they would learn more about Serbian tradition, thereby increasing the visibility of our cultural heritage. This meeting would also contribute to the International Folklore Festival that would be held in Nis in the second half of July, as our city, as a host, would have the opportunity to show all its cultural and tourist capacities.

The promotion of book dedicated to the 140-year-long history of this humanitarian organization Red Cross in our city was held today. The Red Cross in Nis was founded 140 years ago, and since then, this organization has helped refugees from the wars, those who are affected by natural disasters, the poor and the sick. The opening of the Red Cross Nis Office was initiated by Doctor Vladan Djordjevic, who participated in the liberation wars from 1876 to 1878. The book was prepared by the longtime secretary of this organization Stojan Prokopovic and Djordje Stamenkovic. The Steering Committee of this organization over the years often included Nis City mayors such as Dimitrije Kocić – Mita, Todor Milovanović, Ljubisa Ljuba Stanojević, Petar T. Arandjelovic and Dragisa Cvetkovic. The Red Cross mission is to ease human suffering. Based on this briefly defined mission of this organization, the Red Cross, depending on the causes of human suffering, and adapts its programs, in order to fulfill its basic task. Hence the tasks of the Red Cross are not the same in the war times and in the time of peace – it is stated in the book.

The Day of Victory over Fascism in the Second World War was marked today by laying of flower wreaths at the monument to the liberators of Nis on the Square of King Milan. Nis City delegation led by the Mayor Darko Bulatovic paid their respect within the official ceremony. The delegations of the Serbian Armed Forces, the Police, the Nisava Administrative District, the Russian-Serbian Humanitarian Center and many others also paid their respects to the war veterans who fought against fascism. Previously, in the Army Hall, the academy was held on which occasion the memories of the glorious days and the struggle for the final breakup from Nazi Germany were evoked. In the presence of the city’s leaders, the wreaths were also laid at the monument dedicated to Russian pilots from where the crowd of citizens gathered to embark on a symbolic walk in the streets of the city with a simple message that the revival of this kind of ideology should never happen again. Serbs had the significant role in the victory over fascism and thousands gave their life for freedom and respect for human dignity. Today, the Republic of Serbia firmly stands for the principles of peaceful co-operation and advocates tolerance and cooperation with other Balkan countries, but also contributes to overall efforts to achieve stability in the region.  On the same day the Day of Europe was celebrated by the exhibition of creative works created in the EU Info Corner and programme for children.

On this day in 1999, NATO planes dropped cluster bombs on the center of Nis. In Sumatovačka Street, near the city market, just next to the Fortress, 16 innocent civilians were killed, including a pregnant woman in the seventh month of pregnancy. On the same day more than 60 people were killed from cluster bombs in Serbia. On the occasion of remembering this day and the civilian casualties the official city delegations paid their respect by laying flower wreaths at Monument dedicated to the victims of NATO bombing. Since 2015, May 7^th was established as a Day of Remembrance for Civilian Victims of the NATO Aggression when it was first marked within the State Program of Celebrating Anniversaries of Historical Events of the Liberation Wars of Serbia

German company Leoni, which produces optic fibers and cables, today opened a new facility in Nis at which 1,123 workers will be employed. Car cables will be produced here on 20,000 square meters, and around EUR 22 million was invested in the facility. The state helped the opening of the facility through purchase of land for the construction and through subsidies for Leoni. The company plans to employ 2,200 people by the end of the year, together with the workers in Nis. The opening was attended by Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, who said that the state had done a lot for Nis, which should be the center of that part of the Balkans. Mayor Darko Bulatovic, who also attended the opening, said on this occasion that in addition to Leoni three other new companies IMI , Zumtobel and Johnson Electric will be opened in Nis

by the end of the year, and the total number of new jobs in these companies will be about 7,000 and that meant an increase in budget revenues in the coming years of several hundred million dinars.  The value of Leoni’s investments in Serbia so far amounts to EUR 75 million, and they’ve employed over 6,000 workers in the country. Last year alone, the company realized exports from Serbia in the amount of EUR 145 million and is one the 10 biggest exporters.
Leoni opened its first plant in Serbia in Prokuplje in 2009, its second one in 2014 in Malosiste, Municipality of Doljevac, and then another one last year in Nis. As Clemens Sachs, director of Leoni in Serbia, says, the company has paid a total of EUR 130 million to the state budget in various fees and taxes since it started operating here. With next year’s opening of a plant in Kraljevo, which will have 45,000 m2 and another 20,000 m2 of accompanying features, and at which 4,000 workers will be employed, Leoni will become the biggest employer in Serbia, with over 11,000 employees and 110,000 square meters of production facilities.
Leoni, whose headquarters are in Nuremberg, Germany, has 93 plants in 31 countries.