Open Day was organized at Niš City Hall for citizens who had previously requested a conversation with the City of Niš Mayor and her associates. 110 citizens were invited for an interview. The citizens wanted to talk mostly about their problems with communal and road infrastructure. The interviews were organized in compliance with epidemiological protection measures. This is a continuation of the previously established practice of regular meetings with citizens.

Niš City Mayor Dragana Sotirovski and the Deputy Mayor Dušica Davidović talked in the White Palace with H.R.H. Princess Katarina Karadjordjević about the continuation of the cooperation between the City of Niš and the Princess Katarina Foundation. We highly appreciate the activity and humanitarian mission of the Princess Katarina Foundation and all the help provided to the City of Niš, Mayor Sotirovski pointed out. Assistance to the City of Niš, especially in the earlier period, was reflected in equipping the space for palliative care for the most difficult patients and in medical equipment. The conversation expressed mutual readiness to continue cooperation. The possibilities of future donations of the Foundation and the areas where that help would be most effective were especially discussed.

The Day of Serbian Unity, Freedom and National Flag was marked in Niš by organizing “Day of Tradition”, which began with the traditional Serbian folk dance – “kolo” on the main city square and continued with a parade of newlyweds and wedding guests and a presentation of old customs of Niš wedding, as well as a central program in front of the City Hall. The participants were welcomed in front of the City Hall by the members of Niš City Council Adriana Anastasov and Nenad Stanković. Choirs, folklore ensembles, musicians playing authentic instruments from Niš and places in southern Serbia participated in the program dedicated to the Day of Serbian Unity, Freedom and the National Flag, which nurtures tradition and cultural heritage. The organizers of the event are the City of Niš, the Youth Office of the City of Niš and Association Mozaik. The Day of Serbian Unity, Freedom and the National Flag is a common holiday of all Serbs and is marked on the anniversary of the breakthrough of the Thessaloniki Front in the First World War.

On the eve of the Day of Serbian Unity, Freedom and the National Flag, a parade of the Military Orchestra was held in the main city street. The joint holiday of all Serbs is marked on September 15, on the anniversary of the breakthrough of the Thessaloniki front in the First World War. The goal of establishing a new holiday is to strengthen the unity of all Serbs and to nurture and strengthen the symbol of the flag.

Niš City Mayor Dragana Sotirovski and the Ambassador of Hungary to Serbia, Attila Pinter, discussed the continuation of successful cooperation, to which the Honorary Consul of Hungary with the seat in Niš, Miloje Branković, significantly contributed. At the meeting held in the Niš City Hall it was concluded that further cooperation is developing on connecting this part of Serbia with Hungarian cities, on improving economic cooperation and cooperation in the field of spa tourism. In all this, the role of Mr. Branković is very important, as it was in the previous period. The Mayor of Niš and His Excellency attended the ceremonial awarding of decorations to Honorary Consul Branković, the Knight’s Cross, the Hungarian Order of Merit, which is awarded by the President of Hungary for his exceptional contribution to strengthening strong ties between Serbia and Hungary. An exhibition of wool sculptures by Arpad Pulai from Vrbas, an artist of Hungarian origin, was opened in the hall of Niš National Theater, where the ceremony was held.

Serbian and German flags were displayed in the central part of Niš on the occasion of the visit of German Chancellor Angela Merkel to Serbia. President Aleksandar Vučić has repeatedly emphasized Angela Merkel’s enormous help in 2015, when Croatia imposed sanctions on Serbia because of migrants and its support for the Berlin process. Serbia had great support from Angela Merkel and her government in encouraging investors to come to Serbia. Serbian and German flags have been displayed in honor of Angela Merkel for all the help provided to Serbia. The visit of the German Chancellor to Serbia is one of the last diplomatic activities before the end of her mandate.

It will not be worthwhile to introduce an emergency situation in Niš, because that entails many consequences, and I hope that we will not have to introduce more rigorous measures compared to other cities, said Niš City Mayor Dragana Sotirovski. After the third dose of the vaccine she called on her fellow citizens, who did not receive even the first dose of the vaccine, to do so as soon as possible so that we could respond in the right way to the new wave of coronavirus. “I feel relieved, because I am in contact with people every day. In that way, I protect myself, my family, my closest associates, “said Niš City Mayor. Thanks to the state leadership we have the opportunity to choose vaccines, added Mayor Sotirovski. According to her, we are in daily contact with the school administration, because the data indicate a jump in the number of high school students who are virus positive.  Director of the Main City Health Care Center prof. Dr. Milorad Jerkan said that 64 percent of the population in Niš received the first dose, that 60.83 percent received the second dose, but that it was not enough. The goal is 80%, and if we do not achieve that, we will have a hard winter, director Jerkan warned.

Niš City Mayor Dragana Sotirovski, as the representative of the employer, signed a collective contract with the president of the Trade Union Organization of City Administrations, Petar Mićović, which determines the rights and obligations of employees in all six city administrations. This new collective contract enables workers greater rights and better working conditions, which make us as signatories satisfied after the harmonization of an important document for employees, said Niš City Mayor. With the planned novelties and affirmative measures we want satisfied workers who are the “heart” of the administration and on whom depends how effective the administration is. The new collective contract envisages a significant increase in funds in the field of demographic and pro-natal policy, stated Mayor Sotirovski. We have planned three national average salaries for in vitro fertilization, for each newborn baby two average salaries instead of one and a half, for every third child and for more children than that, instead of three we will give five average salaries. We will provide every employee with a regular health check-up every two years, the Mayor listed some of the planned measures. According to her, those who are hired on the basis of a contract outside regular employment will have the right to paid leave in case of relocation, marriage, birth of a child, which will equate them with employees. She noted that these are just some of the affirmative measures. We will further improve the status of our employees in accordance with the possibilities and the situation in the budget. Mićović assessed that the employees in the city administrations received a significantly more favorable collective contract than the national one, and expressed hope for the continuation of successful cooperation in further improving the position of employees. On behalf of the City Trade Union and the Trade Union of the Administration of Serbia, Miloš Randjelović thanked for the efforts to achieve the most favorable rights for workers.

Niš City Mayor Dragana Sotirovski and the General Manager of the Company Leoni Serbia, Pierluigi Gione, talked about new development projects in the post-covid period. Leoni will start a new development cycle by expanding the capacity in Niš, as it was said during the meeting which was the part of the regular contacts between the Niš City Mayor and the general director Leoni. Leoni recently expanded its development capacities in Niš. With 13,000 employees in Serbia, it is now the largest private employer in the country. In the conversation with the director Gione, the importance of vaccinating the employees was emphasized once again.

The representatives of Niš primary schools received the drones to help in teaching process with the aim of improving digital and information literacy, programming languages scratch and python, which are provided in the curriculum for the fifth and sixth grade. The drones are donated to schools by the Rotary District of Serbia and Montenegro on the basis of a signed “For a Better School” Memorandum of Cooperation with the Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development, The MoU also envisages the assistance in teacher training.  The Member of Niš City Council Aleksandar Stojičić thanked for the donation on behalf of the City of Niš and wished the teachers and students successful work on mastering the planned curriculum. The distribution of drones to the representatives of Niš primary schools was organized in front of the City Hall, respecting epidemiological measures.