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 70th anniversary of the Declaration of the Human Rights by the United Nations in Paris on December 10th, 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 70th 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.
The Steering Committee of the Ministry of Labor, Veterans’ and Social Affairs and the City of Nis marked the 209th anniversary of the Battle of Cegar. The delegations of the respective ministry, the City of Nis, City Municipality Pantelej, Nisava Administrative District, army and police forces paid their respects by placing flower wreaths at the memorial complex on Cegar Hill. The Battle of Cegar is one of the crucial battles, led in the First Serbian Uprising, between Serbian rebels and Turks. It took place on May 31st, 1809, on the Cegar Hill near Kamenica village near Nis.
On the occasion of marking the anniversary of the Battle of Cegar the holy liturgy and memorial service in the honor of Serbian heroes. The Liturgy was served by His Highness Bishop of Nis, Arsenije, accompanied by a large number of priests of the Nis Diocese. Today’s tower-shaped tower – a symbol of a military fortress – was erected on the occasion of the fiftieth anniversary of the liberation of Nis from the Turks on June 1, 1927. In the semicircular niche of the monument on Cegar Hill, in 1938, the bronze bust of Stevan Sindjelic was placed.
Two-day International Fair of Water and Sanitation Equipment gathered more than 25 exhibitors from the country and abroad. The fair was opened by State Secretary at the Ministry of Environmental Protection Ivan Karić. Nis City Mayor Darko Bulatovic welcomed the guests saying that throughout the region, from Belgrade to Sofia, until the last year, there was no opportunity for all interested to get acquainted with new technological achievements in the field of utility services in a professional and organized way. The International Fair – Days of Water has become a place where renowned domestic and foreign companies meet, a place where trends are presented and various experiences in the field of production and distribution of drinking water, sewage and wastewater treatment plants are exchanged. Mayor Bulatovic pointed out that Nis, with the support of the Republic and the EU, was working on the project to build a wastewater treatment plant, which was the largest infrastructure project in Serbia in the field of environmental protection.
Serbian Deputy Prime Minister Zorana Mihajlovic and Nis City Mayor Darko Bulatovic signed the Protocol on Cooperation between the Coordination Body for Monitoring the Implementation of the Strategy for Social Inclusion of Roma in Serbia for the period 2016-2025 and the City of Nis to monitor the implementation of the project of relocation of residents of the Red Star settlement in order to provide them with adequate housing conditions. “The protocol we signed today is very important because we are solving the housing issue for 110 Roma families. We have been working on this project for two years and I would like to thank the City of Nis for working together, because without full involvement of local communities there is no discussion that we can achieve the Roma community’s involvement “said Mihajlovic. Nis City Mayor Darko Bulatovic pointed out that the promotion of good governance and empowerment of the Roma community were common goals of the City of Nis and the Government of Serbia. The protocol that was signed today was a logical continuation of good joint work with the Serbian government with the aim of reducing the poverty of Roma, full participation in the community, as well as creating conditions for a higher standard and better living conditions, “Bulatovic said.
Nis City Council Member for Social Care Issues Tijana Djordjevic Ilic welcomed today at Nis City Hall the participants of the Forum dedicated to the issues of social inclusion, employment and labor market. She said she was very pleased that this forum was being held in Nis. She said that this forum was an opportunity for the exchange of knowledge and experience in programs and activities to reduce unemployment and improve the position of socially sensitive categories of population. “The issues of social inclusion, raising the capacity to increase the employment rate, and the regulation of the labor market – are of key importance for every society and every one of its individuals. The problem of social inclusion and the integration of vulnerable categories of the population is a particularly important segment of the employment policy. There are ethical and economic reasons for the need to insist on the integration of vulnerable categories. On the one hand, the notion of social justice is unachievable without the human and ethical initiatives of each community. Planned and responsible approach to the problem of unemployment of vulnerable social groups certainly contributes to successful integration into the labor market and reducing the risk of poverty, discrimination and dependence on financing from the social care system, “said Tijana Đordjević
Nis City Mayor Darko Bulatovic and the director of the Nis Branch of the National Employment Service, Boban Matic, signed today an agreement on the realization of active employment policy measures for 2018. The agreement envisages that 72 milion dinars of the joint funds allocated by the City of Nis and the National Employment Service will be used for the implementation of the programs and measures of the Active Employment Policy. On the basis of this agreement, the following programs and measures will be implemented: subsidies for self-employment, subsidies to employers for job creation, practical knowledge acquisition program, training program at the request of the employers and public works. “The increase in employment is at the top of the development priorities of the City of Nis. The city has allocated 40 million dinars for this year, which is 20 million dinars more than last year, if the funds allocated by the National Employment Service are taken into account, “said Mayor Darko Bulatovic. He added that, in the last three years, Nis has reached record low number of unemployed. “These results could not be realized by the City of Nis without the support of the state, and I would like to thank the President of Serbia and the Government of our country for this support, who recognized the significance of Nis and understood how important it is to invest in Nis. Thanks to them, a large number of investors were brought to Nis, which significantly influenced the reduction of the number of unemployed people. “The mayor said that the city’s strategic goal is a stable and sustainable growth of employment, a reduction in informal employment and unemployment, and the creation of new measures to meet the demands of the labor market.
The representatives of the EU Delegation to Serbia presented the Report by the European Commission on the progress of Serbia. On behalf of the City of Nis the Deputy Mayor Miloš Bandjur welcomed the guest speakers and the gathers audience expressing great satisfaction that the representatives of the European Union delegation were on Nis on the occasion of presenting the Annual Progress Report of the European Commission on Serbia’s progress in the negotiation process to the citizens of Nis and the whole. “I am happy that the European Union Delegation believes that this important document should be brought closer to local self-governments, which are an important factor in the overall progress of the state. Today, Nis and southeast Serbia have the opportunity to get acquainted with the processes of Serbia’s euro integration and to get answers to important issues, in which areas progress has been made, what the recommendations for further acting in the process of implementing the reforms and the accession process were. The Deputy Mayor added that the presentation of this report is especially important since local governments and local communities were the place where the needs and interests of citizens directly met the process of Euro integration. “Often, the impression is that local governments are least involved in this process and that citizens do not feel that changes are really happening. Quality and availability of information about the European integration process are key factors for local governments to recognize what is necessary to support overall state policies on the road to EU” as Deputy Mayor concluded.