A representative office of the city of Nis, the largest city in southern Serbia, was officially opened in Brussels late on Tuesday in the presence of Serbian Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremic, Mayor of the city of Nis Milos Simonovic and Chairman of the European Parliament's Delegation for South East Europe Eduard Kukan.

“I am certain the activities to be taking place here will contribute not only to the region (of Nis), its economy and getting closer to the European regions, but also to the whole process of Serbia's EU accession,” Jeremic said at the opening ceremony.

The minister added that Serbia was committed to getting closer to the EU and that it encouraged all the regions within the country in pursuing the same goal.

Addressing those present at the ceremony, Kukan said that the opening of the office was very important as having local and regional-level representatives was an integral part of the European policy.

The host of the ceremony, Mayor Simonovic, said that the Tuesday event showed the city of Nis wanted to get closer to the EU at the time when Serbia's European integration gained new momentum, and that in that way, Nis wanted to become more attractive for investors and new projects to improve infrastructure and environmental protection and to create new jobs.

The office is situated in the premises of ALDE - Association of Local Agencies for Democracy, which is the official partner of this project.

Affiliation with the European Union and the status of a candidate are the strategic goals of Serbia as a whole, as well as its local self-governments that are also involved in the process of integration. In order to join that process directly, the city of Nis has come to the conclusion that it is necessary to open an office that would present the interests of the city and southeast Serbia to the officials of European institutions.

- It is very important that the City of Nis has opened an office in Brussels because that office will be able to ensure bigger grants from the EU funds and attract more investments to Nis and the region of southeast Serbia by lobbying and representing local interests. The opening of this office in Brussels is a step that the Nis local self-government takes on its way toward European integrations in order to be ready for the moment when our country becomes a candidate for the admission to the EU and, thus, maximally benefit from that membership and the existing EU funds - it was announced on the website of the City of Nis.

The office of the City of Nis in Brussels is run by Aleksandra Milosevic-Lugovic who earned a PhD in Economics in Brussels while working for EUobserver.