Acting Assistant Minister for Public and Cultural Diplomacy Ambassador Dr. Ljiljana Nikšić

Ambassador Nikšić was born on 4 May 1966. She holds a master's degree in economics and a doctorate in political science; she is a peace studies researcher and author of a number of scientific papers, books and articles. Ambassador Nikšić is a polyglot, proficient in English, German and French, and is also fluent in Italian, Spanish, Russian and Czech. She is a holder of six decorations, two Serbian and four foreign.

So far, she has been awarded twice for her service to the people, the first time in 2018, with the Sretenje Gold Medal of the Republic of Serbia, and then in 2023 with the medal of the Republic of Srpska, which were presented to her by the presidents of Serbia and the Republic of Srpska, Aleksandar Vučić and Milorad Dodik respectively. She is the holder of the MFA Charter for Diplomatic Excellence, which was presented to her by First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Ivica Dačić in 2019. She is one of the 13 holders of the title Knight of the Order of the Dragon of Serbian Diplomacy. When it comes to recognitions from abroad, she is the holder of the French André Maginot Medal awarded by the Veteran Association of France, personally presented to her by Admiral Lacaille, the Dr. Archibald Reiss silver medallion from Switzerland and of the plaque of the City of Lyon. She received certificates of appreciation from B'nai B'rith International Jewish organization, located in Washington, D.C., from the 18^th Prime Minister of Canada, Brian Mulroney in 2019, and also from the Minister of Diaspora Affairs and Combating Anti-Semitism and Minister for Social Equality of the State of Israel, Amichai Chikli, in 2023.

In her career, she carried out 72 diplomatic campaigns. Some of the most significant strategic campaigns include the following: commemorating 80 years of culture of remembrance of Nikola Tesla, the man who enlightened humanity, in the Tesla Year proclaimed by First Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Dačić in 2023, for which she was awarded a Tesla Medallion by the Tesla Science Foundation from Philadelphia and a certificate of appreciation from the Tesla Science Center at Wardenclyffe, Long Island; "Jasenovac - the Right to Remembrance” when she coordinated the setting up of the first and only exhibition in the United Nations to include seven tons of equipment and artefacts, as the largest in the history of the East River (2018); "The Return of Saint Sava to the Holy Land" (790 years from the first pilgrimage 1229-2019), when the first academic centre in the history of bilateral relations between Serbia and Israel, "Saint Sava and Judah Alkalai", was opened at the Ono Academic College in Jerusalem with the blessing of the late Patriarch Irinej, who consecrated the first memorial plaque dedicated to Saint Sava that was installed at that time on premises of the centre in Jerusalem; and also the centennial of the alliance between Serbs and Americans, marking the "Day when the Serbian flag was flown at the White House" (2018), while the diplomatic diary of the same name, which she wrote on the occasion of the centennial of that unprecedented gesture of statesmanship, is in the White House library belonging to the 45^th President of the United States.

She has coordinated the efforts aimed at preserving the tradition of Serbian diplomatic service since 2015, when, with a group of diplomats, she initiated the introduction of the Serbian Diplomacy Day, which was first marked on 29 May 2015.

Ambassador Nikšić is a member of the Commission for Decorations at the Office of the President of the Republic of Serbia and a member of the Council for Fostering the Tradition of Liberation Wars at the Ministry of Labour, Employment, Veteran and Social Affairs.