November 25^th

“Violence against women is a big problem in the whole country, and it is not enough to deal with this issue only as the part of the campaign of” 16 days of Activism in the Fight against Violence against Women.  Continuous work is required, continuous education of society, changing cultural patterns of behavior and inclusion of different social systems in order to discover, stop and prevent this phenomenon. We cannot live in a situation where violence occurs in every other household. We need to encourage and empower as many women as possible to report violence because domestic violence is not only a matter of internal family and family relations, but of society as a whole. I believe that the adoption of the new Law on the Prevention of Domestic Violence will certainly help, because violence against women in the family does not only affect a direct victim. It is important for us as a local self-government to make life better for both women and men, because everything that is good for one is good for others. We will try to act in different ways to raise the awareness of people about this phenomenon, but the contribution to the fight against violence against women must be given by the whole public. “

November 24^th

According to the tradition, in addition to the highest representatives of cities and municipalities, the 44^th Assembly of the SCTM was attended by other domestic high officials, representatives of the Government of Serbia and line ministries, republican deputies, representatives of the diplomatic corps, governmental and non-governmental organizations and institutions, international donor organizations as well as the association of local authorities from other countries with whom SCTM has established cooperation. The biggest annual gathering of mayors and municipal presidents, this time, was an opportunity to discuss the most important topics in the field of local self-government during one day. In the introductory part of the Assembly, the participants were addressed by the representative of the City of Belgrade in the role of the host city, the high representatives of the Government of Serbia, the Delegation of the European Union and the donor countries of the Kingdom of Sweden and the Swiss Confederation. Also, Gudrun Mosler – Tornstrom, President of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe, took part in the introductory part of the Assembly addressing the participants. In the final part of the introductory part, the President of the SCTM and Nis City Mayor Darko Bulatovic submitted a report on the key activities in the period between the two assemblies. The main issues that were discussed at the Assembly were: Economic Reform Program for the period 2017-2019, the conditions for attracting investments and improving local economic development, as well as new legal solutions on local self-government. It is expected that the constructive dialogue between the participants of the Assembly will contribute to defining the directions and priorities of the SCTM in the forthcoming period. The Assembly considered and decided on matters of importance for the work of the SCTM as an institution. Within the work of the Assembly the proposals of documents and decisions important for the work and functioning of the SCTM were considered.

November 23^rd, 2016
The Award Committee of the City of Nis, chaired by Mr. Rade Rajkovic, the Chairman of the Assembly of the City of Niš, adopted the Action Plan, as well as the text of the Public Call for proposals for awards for the highest award of the City of Niš, “11^th January Award”, which will be released  on December 1^st, 2016. The Committee is made up of the Chairman of the Assembly of the City of Niš, The Mayor of the City of Niš, of the representatives of the Army, of the University and of the Church.

“11^th JANUARY AWARD ” is delivered for the outstanding achievements that contribute to the promotion of the city in the field of economy, art, science, medicine, architecture and urbanism, journalism, education, sports and in other areas of importance for the City of Niš. The president of the Committee, Mr. Rade Rajkovic, stated to strengthen the award criteria from this year on, and the fact that the award will not be politicized at any rate.

Furthermore, at the press conference dedicated to this topic, the Chairman of the Assembly of the City of Niš, Mr. Rade Rajkovic, announced the date of the next session of the Assembly, on Wednesday, November 30^th, and listed some of the most important issues, such as the decision on the Budget Review and the decision on the Maximum number of the employees.

November 22^nd

The women’s basketball team of Serbia arrived today in Nis, where they would play the decisive match for the first place in the qualifying group for the European Championship 2017 on Wednesday, at 6:00 pm. Our basketball players, upon their arrival from Belgrade, met with Nis City Mayor Darko Bulatovic at Nis City Hall. Mayor Bulatovic welcomed the basketball players and thanked them for playing in Nis. “I will use the opportunity to invite all the Nis citizens to come to Sports Hall Cair and help our team to achieve the goal that our national team set and help them win for Serbia.” The national team coach Marina Maljkovic thanked for a nice reception and said: “I am truly that we are in a city that loves basketball. Nis was a great organizer in men’s and women’s basketball in the last few years. We are especially pleased to bring gold from the European Championship, which is new when the women’s basketball is at stake and the richest thing we have – the bronze from the biggest sporting competition, Olympic Games. I would like to thank the Mayor for the warm reception. Tomorrow’s match is a very important for us, it will be very difficult. We will try to win, but I appeal to all Nis citizens to support us in the right way tomorrow, and I know that you can do it. I repeat, it will be a very difficult game, so we will really need the energy from the stands. I am sure that we are in the best place in Serbia when the support and understanding of basketball is in question, “said Maljkovic.

November 22^nd

The representatives of the European Delegation in Serbia presented today to Nis City Mayor and the representatives of institutions, the civil sector and the media in Nis, the European Commission’s Report for the period from October 2015 to September 2016 on the progress of Serbia in the process of joining the European Union. The report was recently delivered by the Head of the Delegation, Michael Devenport, to Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic. This report highlights that Serbia has taken a major step in European integration, and that in 24 chapters, our country has made some progress in comparison to last year. The reduction of the budget deficit, the reform of the state administration and the creation of conditions for an efficient market economy were particularly commended. Nis City Mayor Darko Bulatovic welcomed the representatives of the EU delegation and said that Serbia was on the European path and wanted to become a part of European society. We will continue to work and try to keep our economy progressing, the mayor said, adding that the efforts undertaken by the Prime Minister and the Government of Serbia are seen at the local level as well. Also, local self-government does everything to follow the Serbian Government and incorporate reform measures into its decisions and apply them within its activities. He pointed out that the local self- government worked completely transparently, so that citizens and media representatives could have an insight into the activities of the City at any time, and that this would be the case in the following period.

November 21^st

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban and members of his cabinet on November 20^th arrived in Nis, where they were received by Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic and cabinet members ahead a joint session of governments on November 21^st. Orban and the Hungarian ministers were welcomed at the Constantine the Great Airport with the highest honors with the playing of anthems and the presence of an honor guard. Multiple bilateral ministerial meetings are also slated for November 21^st in Nis, and the two prime ministers will be attending a Serbian-Hungarian business forum as well.
The interior ministers of Serbia and Hungary, Nebojsa Stefanovic and Sandor Pinter, talked over the migrant crisis in Nis late on November 20^thagreeing that there was good cooperation between police in curbing human-trafficking. Serbian Minister of Construction, Transport and Infrastructure Zorana Mihajlovic announced that the joint session of governments would focus on projects significant to the entire region and that a deal would be signed to declare the Tisa an international navigable river. Vucic said at a joint press conference with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, after the meeting of the two governments, that Serbia and Hungary had sincere friendly political relations, and added that the aim was to further improve economic relations. Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic said that the purpose of the joint session of the governments of Serbia and Hungary in Nis was improvement of relations between businessmen of the two countries, increasing trade and attracting investors. Vucic said that he and Orban talked about attracting investors from this country, not only in Vojvodina, but also in other parts of Serbia, adding that the opening of a branch of OTP Bank in Nis is therefore extremely important.

November 21^st

Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic and Prime Minister of Hungary Viktor Orban visited today the new 9.4km Prosek- Bancarevo road section on the eastern branch of Corridor 10.Vucic presented Orban the works on the whole Corridor 10, and particularly the eastern branch leading from Nis to the Bulgarian border. Orban congratulated the Serbian Prime Minister on everything that has been done and what he saw and especially commended the quality and speed of works. Also, the Prime Minister of Hungary was interested in the details of the implementation of the construction of Corridor 10 through Serbia. Vucic said that the completion of Corridor 10 through Serbia will significantly shorten the travel from Budapest through Belgrade towards Bulgaria, Macedonia or Greece. Also, we will have much safer roads, and vehicle traffc will be significantly increased, said Vucic. According to Vucic, the eastern branch of Corridor 10 is one of the most difficult sections because of mountainous landscapes. Vucic presented Orban the current works on Corridor 11, important for linking Serbia with Montenegro, as well as the planned construction of the motorway Nis-Pristina, adding that Nis is becoming a regional center and a major crossroads.

November 21^st

Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic said today at the Serbian-Hungarian business forum in Nis that good political relations between the two countries open the possibility for full cooperation in all fields of economy and announced direct connecting of entrepreneurs and companies. Speaking at the business forum held after the joint session of the two governments, Vucic told the Hungarian investors that the Serbian government will provide the best possible conditions for business. He told investors from Hungary that Serbia offers well-trained labour force, as well as very good incentives for any business they might want to start. According to the Prime Minister, our country also offers subsidies per job, the joint construction of infrastructural facilities, production facilities, access roads and more. Serbia can offer better conditions than any other country in the region, the Prime Minister underlined and added that it is also necessary to encourage Serbian investors try to invest in Hungary. Vucic pointed out that today a contract with a major Japanese company was signed which will employ 1,700 people in Sabac, while German factory Kromberg &Schubert, which specializes in production of car parts, has opened its production plant in Krusevac. The Serbia-Hungary Business Forum, which has gathered 250 businessmen and 170 companies, has been organized by the Serbian Chamber of Commerce and the Hungarian National Trading House.  According to data of the Serbian Statistical Office, the total foreign trade between Serbia and Hungary stood at €1.1 billion last year, which is approximately €50 million more in comparison to 2014, i.e. by 4.9% more.  In the first eight months of 2016, the trade between the two countries increased by 5% in relation to the same period last year, which was encouraged by the opening of Hungarian trade representative offices. Total export of goods to Hungary in 2015 stood at € 320.9 million and it accounted for 2.7% of the total export of Serbia.

November 21^st

Hungary’s OTP Bank has opened a new regional headquarters in Nis. The inauguration ceremony was held in the presence of Hungarian PM Viktor Orbán and Serbian PM Aleksandar Vučić, who both expressed their hope that the Nis investment would be profitable for both parties. According to preliminary reports, the total cost of the new regional headquarters was half a million euros. In his speech, President and CEO of OTP Sándor Csányi emphasized that OTP Bank appeared on the Serbian market ten years ago when it purchased Niska Banka and is planning on acquiring other bank branches with which it can rise to become one of the largest banks in Serbia .OTP is present in nine countries, has over 1300 branches and provides services to 12 million clients. Mr. Csányi highlighted the fact that good Hungarian-Serbian economic relations facilitate the economic development of both countries and continued good cooperation is expected in view of the fact that the signs of Serbian economic development and growth are already visible. Prime Minister Orbán said with relation to this that amongst others the members of the Hungarian Government had arrived in Southern Serbia to convince Hungarian enterprises that it was also worth searching for investment opportunities south of Belgrade. “The opening of the new OTP headquarters in Nis is proof that Serbia welcomes Hungarian investors, and Hungary supports these kinds of investments”, the Prime Minister added. “The opening of the branch is a symbolic moment that is testament to our economic policy of encouraging close cooperation”, Mr. Orbán continued. Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic expressed his hope that the Nis investment would be profitable for both parties.

November 18^th

Two students from each primary school from Nis that meet the criteria of the Promens Center, after the workshops that will be organized in schools, will be given the opportunity to attend the eight-month Suan Pan Program to strengthen the potential of children in the developmental period. According to Milica Vukotić Jildirim, the director of Promens Center, this center will donate two tuition fees for each school. According to her, the data show that, after 8 months of this school, the attention and memory of children increase for 86%. Nis City Mayor Darko Bulatovic, who presented the vouchers for this program to the directors of the primary school, thanked Promens Center for this donation, but also the respective city administration for education which recognized the importance of this program for the development of children and contributed to the realization of this donation.