The welcoming reception was organized at Nis City Hall for the renowned archaeologists, the participants of the 24th Limes Congress hosted by the Institute of Archaeology in Belgrade, Serbia, which was, for the first time, held in Belgrade and Viminacium, 2‒9^th September 2018. Limes Congress is an event with a long tradition of nearly 70 years and brings together experts on the Roman Frontier Studies worldwide. This event is organized every third year and gathers those who deal with the Roman army and everything related to the Roman border. The scientific elite with more than 100 researchers from around 45 countries from all six continents came to Serbia. Assistant Mayor Nebojsa Randjelović greeted the guests and sent a welcoming message and pointed out that Nis was a very interesting city for archaeologists

The exhibition of paintings by a Slovak author, Milosav Dvorak, was opened at Synagogue Gallery in Nis. The exhibition was jointly organized by the National Museum of Nis, the Embassy of the Slovak Republic in Belgrade and the Honorary Consulate of Slovak Republic in Nis. The opening ceremony was attended by Her Excellency Dagmar Repcekova, Ambassador of the Slovak Republic to Serbia, Nis City Mayor Darko Bulatovic and Honorary Consul of the Slovak Republic in Nis Stela Jovanovic. Ambassador Repcekova said that she visited Nis for so many times that she no longer felt like a guest, and once again thanked Nis citizens and the host city for outstanding hospitality sincere friendship. She said that the cooperation so far in all areas was excellent, and that she was convinced that it would be even wider and better in the future. Mayor Bulatovic said that rarely a country turned out to be such a good and faithful friend to Serbia as Slovakia was, and that this exhibition was another proof of that. The author himself, Miloslav Dvorak, said that he was immensely happy about the opportunity and honor to exhibit his works in Nis and that he was thrilled with the fact that his paintings were in the extraordinary ambience of the Nis synagogue and that the Serbian audience would have the opportunity to see them. Otherwise, Milosav Dvorak is a Slovak mid-generation author. He is a

a doctor, specialist in neuroscience, by vocation  while painting  is a hobby and love from an early age.

August 13^th

As the part of the International Youth Day, which is celebrated on August 12^th, the City of Nis Youth Office presented its work so far in the presence of delegations from the Norwegian city Saltdal. After the presentation, the possibilities for further cooperation between two cities in the field of youth policy were discussed. City of Nis Youth Office is one of 150 offices in Serbia which provides a certain package of services related to improving the quality of life of young people in the city. By providing logistic and financial support to youth actions and projects, the Youth Office has positioned itself as a reliable partner for young people in solving problems and respecting their needs. In addition, through the organization of various seminars and education, young people are given the opportunity to acquire non-formal education. The Youth Office is particularly focused on encouraging youth employment and strengthening their capacities in order to find a job. Independently, or in cooperation with other institutions of the city, it organizes internships and thus provides young people with the opportunity to acquire practical knowledge. Every year a competition for financing and co-financing projects for young people is announced and this year the allocated amount for these projects is 4,000,000RSD. Of this amount, 1,000,000 RSD is allocated for the establishment of the Resource Center, which will have the task of gathering informal youth groups and helping them realize their ideas. During this week, a list of approved projects and the name of the association which will act as a Resource Center will be completed. Another novelty this year is the announcement of a competition for financing youth events.

August 10^th

The Member of Nis City Council for Culture Jelena Mitrovski and Assistant Mayor Nebojsa Randjelovic received the guest guests from Norway, the members of the Rognan Hornorkester who are the guests of Nis Jazz Festival Nisville. The reception was attended by the Mayors of Nis and Saltdal, Darko Bulatovic and Rune Berg, who took the opportunity to discuss the continuation of cooperation between the two twin cities. The orchestra was founded in 1908 under the name Rognan Hornmuzik and it has been one of the first members of the musical association in Northern Norway. It has 28 members. The guests thanked for the warm welcome and stressed that they were extremely pleased to present their music in Nis.  They were delighted with the festival and all accompanying programs. Assistant Mayor Nebojsa Randjelovic said that he was glad that he had the opportunity to listen to the performance of Rognan Hornorkester, wishing them many more successful performances and pleasant stay in Nis, expressing his hopes that the cooperation between the twin city of Nis and Saltdal would continue. On this occasion the orchestra from Saltdal performed together with local orchestra Impresija and announced the possibility of continuing cooperation.

Long-standing friendly relations and cooperation between the City of Nis and the Norwegian Municipality of Saltdal, which were also formalized in the 1985 by Twinning Protocol, are continuing to mutual satisfaction as the Mayor of the Norwegian Municipality of Saltdal Rune Berg said on the occasion of the visit of the official delegation of Saltdal Municipality to Nis. At the meeting between Nis City Deputy Mayor Milos Bandjur and Mayor Berg the potentials of both cities were presented and the aspects of future cooperation were disused. According to Mayor Berg the cooperation could be directly continued in the field of education, culture and youth. Deputy Mayor Milos Bandjur pointed out that he was pleased that guests of the City of Nis would have the opportunity to attend the Nisville international jazz festival and that their amateur jazz orchestra would perform at this festival. Deputy Mayor pointed out that humanity that Norwegian showed to the Serbian internees in the past.  The delegation of the City of Nis was in Saltdal last June where attending the celebration of 75 years since the first Serb prisoners from concentration camps were taken for forced labor.  “I was amazed to see how the Norwegian people care about the Serbian memorial complex-Serbia cemetery where a total of 1911 Serbs were buried, out of 2081 who were sent there for labor. The Municipality of Saltdal and the Government of the Kingdom of Norway will invest additional funds to reconstruct the memorial complex. Then came an idea and a need to cooperate again, and the Mayor of Saltdal was in Nis, “said Deputy Mayor Bandjur. Beside the Mayor with his associates, an amateur jazz orchestra from this city is staying in Nis performing at Nisville Jazz Festival.

Cooperation between the City of Nis and the French municipality Montsegur started in October 2012 in the framework of decentralized cooperation with the Council of the Department of Gironde, and at the initiative of the French Embassy in Serbia, with the agreement that this cooperation would be dedicated to youth, culture and sustainable local development as it was

Lavern and Nis City Deputy Mayor Milos Bandjur. He emphasized the importance of this cooperation which was primarily reflected in the exchange of experiences in the field of culture. At the same time the Deputy Mayor thanked Mr. Lavern, who, on his arrival to Nis, emphasized the importance of Nisville Jazz Festival, at the same time mentioning that the festival would be opened by mixed young jazz band composed of 17 musicians from our city and 23 musicians from Montsegur. He praised the jazz festival and stressed that it meant a great deal to him that he was in Nis on this special occasion to support the joint jazz band and that he could learn about the organization of the festival because the Montsegur had their own jazz festival they were very proud of.

Mayor of Nis Darko Bulatovic met today with the Ambassador of the Arab Republic of Egypt, H.E.Mr Amr Aljowaily, the first diplomat from this friendly country who visited our city after more than 15 years. The meeting, agreed a few months ago, coincided with the evening performance of the modern ballet ensemble of the Cairo State Opera at Nisville Theater Festival, so the issue of expanding and enhancing cultural cooperation was imposed as one of the main topics of discussion between Mayor Bulatovic and the Ambassador. The Ambassador said that cooperation should not be limited to Belgrade and Cairo, as the two main and largest cities. On this occasion he also invited Nis folk ensembles to be guests at one of the numerous ethno festivals in Egypt. Also, the initiative for closer connection, and the twinning of Nis with some of the larger cities in Egypt, was initiated, which was accepted mutually. Mayor Bulatovic pointed out that Nis was a city with a rich but insufficiently investigated archaeological heritage and there was the need for establishing cooperation with Egyptian experts who had vast experience in the field. He emphasized that the National Museum in Nis was ready to connect and collaborate with some of the Egyptian museums or archaeological institutions. Ambassador Aljowaily said that he was familiar with the rapid development of Nis Airport Constantine the Great and pointed out that it would be good to launch an airline, regular or charter, between Nis and airports in Hurghada or Sharm el-Sheikh, and that this would be important not only for citizens of this part of Serbia, but also Bulgaria and Macedonia, and would enable a much larger tourist exchange in both directions.

Nis City Mayor Darko Bulatovic met with the newly appointed Ambassador of the Republic of Austria in Serbia Mr. Nikolaus Lutterotti. The meeting was the occasion for the Mayor Bulatovic to present to the Ambassador the projects implemented by the City of Nis, economic and scientific capacities, cultural, historical and tourist potentials of our city. During the discussion it was pointed out that Austria was one of the biggest and most important foreign trade partners of Serbia; however business, scientific and cultural cooperation could be intensified. His Excellency Ambassador Lutterotti stressed that Nis was the first city outside of Belgrade that he visited since he took office four months ago. He pointed out that he was familiar with the work and plans of Austrian companies in this area and thanked the Mayor for the successful cooperation and assistance that Austrian businessmen could always count on. The Ambassador also emphasized the importance that Austrian diplomacy gave s to the process of Serbia’s accession to the European Union, and especially now, while chairing the EU Council of Ministers, and stated that the position of the Government of Austria and Chancellor Sebastian Kurz was that Serbia and the entire Western Balkans should be part of EU and that, on way to achieving this goal, Serbia could count on the support and assistance from Austria. The meeting between Mayor Bulatović and Ambassador Lutterotti was also attended by Goran Jovanović, the owner of the Serbian-Austrian company Tagor, recently in the capacity of Honorary Consul of the Republic of Austria in Nis.

The 11^th International Student Folklore Festival, which has gathered more than 500 participants from eight countries, Greece, Georgia, Bulgaria, Bolivia, China, Costa Rica and Mexico and the performances in seven cities in Serbia this year, was officially opened last night in Nis. In short – half of the world in the southeast of Serbia! Their hosts are the Student Cultural Center Nis and the Academic Folklore Ensemble Oro. Nis City Mayor Darko Bulatovic welcomed the participants and organizers of this significant cultural event at Nis City Hall with a wish to feel good in our city. “The City of Nis recognizes the social and cultural significance of this festival, and will do its best to be a good example of how love, peace and tolerance among young people should be spread, and art is the best way to accomplish this,” said Mayor Bulatovic. The Director of the Student Cultural Center, Dragana Petković, said that the Festival has been growing and developing for years, and so, apart from Nis, concerts will be held in the municipalities of Bela Palanka, Vladičin Han, Knjaževac, Ćuprija and Ražanj.

The City of Nis has joined the ROMACTED Programme Promoting Good Governance and Roma Empowerment at Local Level, which, with the support of the European Union in Serbia, is implemented by the Council of Europe, on the basis of the agreement between the European Union and the Council of Europe. ROMACTED results from the experience of the ROMED and ROMACT programmes and will reflect upon the adaptation of these methodologies and activities to each beneficiary and selected location, in order to fit into the policy cycle and the dynamics and reality of each municipality, and thus bringing an additional input to existing policies and practices for an effective and more inclusive functioning. One of the leading guidelines in the methodology of the programme is that participation in local governance can only be effective if it is context-appropriate. Thus, a preliminary mapping, assessment, baseline survey and research are done in each selected municipality so as to facilitate the adaptation of the programme and its support and monitoring of the process. In addition to the Strasbourg-based team, the programme will have project officers in the Council of Europe offices in Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Serbia, “the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and Turkey and a national support team from Roma civil society in each of the beneficiary countries. The aims of the programme are to: strengthen political will and support local development through capacity-building of local authorities and effective participation of Roma citizens in local plans and projects; empower the Roma citizens- on the individual level (assisting people to practice their basic rights and to expand their capacity and skills), as well as on the community level (assisting people to get organized to voice their interests around community problem-solving);  improve and expand the institutions’ commitment, capacities, knowledge and skills in working for Roma inclusion, putting into practice the concepts of good governance.

So far, in cooperation with the Roma community and local self-government, the following actions have been successfully carried out: cleaning the railway crossing in the settlement Beograd Mala in cooperation with the Serbian Railways, water supply at the Roma cemetery, as well as the connection of the chapel to the water supply network in cooperation with City Municipality Crveni Krst and PUC Naissus, clearing the wild landfills in cooperation with PUC Medijana. Further plans related to the Roma population will be directed to solving many problems in various areas: water supply, sewerage infrastructure in Roma settlements, traffic signs and safety, systematic solution of wild landfills in settlements, assistance in renovating several residential buildings for the most vulnerable Roma population, cleaning and maintenance of railway crossroads around settlements, education, scholarships, prevention of drug addiction, assistance in securing the equipment for the collectors of raw materials which could be found at the landfill. “Local self-government is ready to answer with its all the available capacities to the problems of our citizens with the obligatory active participation of members of the Roma community”, said Nis City Council Member Tijana Djordjevic Ilic, and announced that in addition to the above Program, a Protocol on Cooperation was signed aimed at improving living conditions of the Roma population in settlements.