The Managing Director of PA Business Information Services, Alan Marshall, said that news agencies have an important role in accurately informing the public. In his first visit to Kosovo, he participates in marking the 25th anniversary of KosovaPress, where he said that it is extraordinary to see the achievements of this independent news agency over the years.

In marking the quarter century of the KosovaPress News Agency, he said that the celebration of this anniversary is a great achievement.

“25 years is a very significant; and when I was speaking to my colleague Mr. Krasniqi in December and he mentioned that there was an anniversary coming up, I asked him how many years it was and he said it is only 25 years”, he said.

He said that the past is also being celebrated, adding that the value of news agencies has never decreased.

“25 years mirrors my own time at PA, so I joined PA almost 25 years ago. I am very familiar and very aware of the level of challenge, the level of determination, and the level of dedication that has been needed to found a new news agencies and bring it to where it is today. And news agencies must achievements are worth celebrating for many reasons. Firstly as we have heard from speakers already, news agencies are very important. They have a critical place in the mission to keep people informed with impartial and accurate news and information in underpinning democratic society, they pursue the purest form of journalism, with an objective to stay true to fact based news”, he said.

In front of ambassadors, government representatives and Balkans and Europe agencies, he congratulated KosovaPress, saying that it is extraordinary to see the achievements over the years.

“I wish you sincere congratulations on your 25th birthday. It’s fantastic to see your commitment and championing of accurate news, it is great to see he development of your multimedia services and innovation. And it is great to see the relationships that you forge with so many other news organizations to bring news about Kosovo to a much wider audience”, he said.

The KosovaPress News Agency will also host the international conference “Freedom of speech borders”, in honor of the 25th anniversary of its establishment, which will be held on Thursday in Prishtina.
This conference will bring together in our capital more than 20 world news agencies from all over Europe and the Balkans. Members of the largest European network of news agencies EANA (www.newsalliance.org) as well as that of South-East Europe ABNA SEE (www.abnase.com), networks where KosovaPress is a member, will be present at this event. /Sh. Pajaziti