A CUP OF COFFEE WITH BOBAN DZUNIC, PRESIDENT OF PALILULA MUNICIPALITY
3.06.2013
With the president of Palilula Municipality, Boban Džunić, we met in a cafe bar "Moment" in the main street, which was his choice. Mr. Džunić was born in Nis, and at the beginning of the conversation, we got back to his childhood in Nis, in the seventies.

What do you remember dearly?
I remember the carefree childhood, our settlement Delijski Vis that looked a lot different than it is today, without residential buildings and blocks. There was much more real, healthy companionship, without computers and the Internet. It was different child with playing time, because we were all closer and closer to each other. We gathered in the places that no longer exist, played at schoolyards and in out in nature, which is very important.

You have finished high school "Stevan Sremac", how can you see from this distance that period?
"Stevan Sremac" has always been the most popular high school in Nis. It was the eighties. We were going out then in several popular cafes, there were a couple of discos and my company, which was then gathered in these places, somehow still held even today. Many of us are bound to each other and work privately and try to cherish this long-standing friendship.

What kind of music did you listen then?
Then was new wave music popular. We listened to "Duran Duran", "Simple Minds" and similar bands. Thanks to music, geatly, it is a period that has remained etched as a wonderful memory of a time that will never return.

Do you agree that these were indeed the "golden eighties'?
It is absolutely so. That spirit, that was present among the people, there is no longer present. Not only in our city, but in the whole of Serbia, there is no longer present.

What would you like Palilula Municipal president, change?
Problem is, also of Palilula Municipality, as well as other urban municipalities, small powers and small powers, and we brought a Decision on the Municipal Assembly, which was helped and assisted by Mile Ilic, President of the City Assembly to come to the Republic level. What we are looking for are greater responsibilities and greater powers, such as urban city municipalities of Belgrade have. It is true that in Belgrade there is a special set of laws, but considering that the municipalities of Nis exist and that they are the first step of cooperation with our citizens, we simply seek only greater ability to meet the citizens needs. It's not about greater financial resources, but to timely realize what is given by the Law. I know that the City is in financial difficulties, as well as the Republic of Serbia and in this sense we have nothing to reproach to the Mayor of Nis, nor the City government. We initiated the cooperation with the municipalities of the Republic of Bulgaria. Across the EU funds, large funds from the City budget are being saved, and the funds from the EU, through our projects, are implemented in Palilula and thus we are best known, perhaps in the whole of Serbia.

What would you, as president, praise in your municipality?
A positive community spirit is something that Palilula has. Perhaps one would think that there is a political division, but it is really minimized. What is actually, is that we are all like one family. As president, I am longing towards that, not only to think the same way, but to all of us fighting for the same goal. Our common goal is to improve our business and we have received a certificate which confirms that operate according to EU standards. In Serbia, there may be only a dozen such municipalities.

Are you related and connected to your hometown?
I was born in Nis and for that reason I never wanted to leave Nis. I had possibilities to go, have been offered some important functions, but it just was not what I wanted. I know a lot of people who, on the basis of political offices in Belgrade and went with it on and finally forgot their city. I believe that one day the work of all fomer presidents will be summarized and we shall see what each of us did in his time. My predecessors were the originators, the pioneers of the work of Palilula of Nis, and greatly improved this work and I want to leave something behind what recognizable.

What is it that you would change in Nis?
Of course, there are a lot of things I would change in general, and in our municipality. I think it lacks in cultural events. I would improve sports clubs and the way in which they could be financed, because Niš deserves to have at least one first country team in football, of course, in handball, basketball and in other sports. We should pay attention to talented children, because they are the children who spread the fame of the city. As an example, my daughter, who is the vice world champion in karate, and I few years ago I asked that she, as a mark, should wear just the emblem of the City of Nis. For Radnicki Club Nis, I am bound, because it's a club where I and I made my first football steps. But besides Radnicki, Nis also has Železničar, which also should not be ignored.

How would you describe Palilula, as part of the city?
Palilula is our soul, the essence of the City of Nis. In Palilula is one recognizable old Niš, about which Stevan Sremac wrote, Nis good town spirit, merak, but the gentlemanly part of all of it. For this reason, it is important tradition to have every year Palilula Night.

For the end of our interview, what would be your message?
I would recommend everyone to have a little more faith and trust, little more patience for everything, because the negative things that need to be repaired and fixed, can not be better overnight. It takes time, good will and a lot of courage today, in these times of crisis. (CityOfNis)