KosovaPress News Agency and the Italian News Agency ANSA have signed a cooperation agreement for the exchange of news, where the focus will also be on support for businesses in our two countries.

During the signing of the agreement on Thursday, which was also attended by the ambassador of Italy to Kosovo, Antonello De Riu, and the ambassador of Kosovo to Italy, Lendita Haxhitasim, it was said that this cooperation will further strengthen the excellent relations between Kosovo and Italy, where free access to news is also provided for the diplomatic headquarters of the two countries.

The executive director of KosovaPress, Suzana Hashani-Rakoivca, said that the first steps of cooperation between KosovaPress and ANSA will be the strengthening of the connecting bridges between our two countries.

"Taking into account the development in the economic and political aspect, KosovaPress can contribute a lot, especially against fake news, and it can contribute to help each business in the economic and political aspect. These will be our steps of cooperation between ANSA and KosovaPress. I wish that we are a bridge between the two countries to help Italian businesses in Kosovo and Kosovo businesses in Italy. Also, the embassies will be informed as accurately as possible about the events happening in our countries", she said.

Meanwhile, the director of ANSA, Stefano de Alessandri, said that this agreement will bring the two countries even closer, and it will also give the diplomatic headquarters in Kosovo and Italy, free access to the news.

He added that this agreement will also create cooperation in the commercial profile, through many Italian companies that are present in Kosovo.

"The agreement has two points, one in terms of journalism, which is the exchange of our news. KosovaPress will give our journalists direct access to their news. As we have seen in many other cases, this is a very important cooperation between our two countries. With this agreement, free access to news is foreseen for the diplomatic headquarters in our countries. While the second part has to do with the cooperation activities of the commercial profile. There are many Italian companies that are present in Kosovo, many of them are our clients, and we will be like a connecting bridge to help their development in Kosovo through KosovaPress and vice versa", he said.

The ambassador of Kosovo to Italy, Lendita Haxhitasim, also expressed her happiness after reaching this agreement.

"I express my congratulations for this agreement, of course also on the part of the institutions of the Republic of Kosovo, as this agreement only enriches our relations which are excellent between our two countries... This is very important in order to face the misinformation and fake news that are made today, which constitute an attack on the current context in which we live today. The quality of information above all is very essential, of course when the news is provided by professional and experienced journalists such as those from the two agencies," she said.

On the other hand, the Italian ambassador to Kosovo, Antonello De Riu, said that the agreement will further strengthen Italy's excellent relations with Kosovo.

"I am very happy to witness this agreement between the two agencies. Today's agreement defines this cooperation that will be structured. The two agencies have different dates of establishment, but they have one thing in common as they were established at the end of two destructive conflicts... The agreement will enable the information of the two respective countries to be done in a systematic way, and to further strengthen the excellent relations between our two countries", he said. Otherwise, KosovaPress is a member of the Association of the Balkan News Agencies – Southeast Europe (ABNA-SEE) and has the presidency of this organization, and also has cooperation agreements with other regional and European agencies.