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The news agencies that are members of the Association of Balkan News Agencies - Southeastern Europe (ABNA-SE) signed a declaration on Monday in which they commit to combating fake news, reports the Greek agency ANA-MPA.
This agreement was signed at the end of a conference on the role of news in the new Balkan reality, which was organized by ANA-MPA and took place at the Emilios Riadis Multipurpose Hall within Helexpo, in Thessaloniki, told Agerpres.
Thus, ABNA-SE members decided to intensify their cooperation in their fight against the "fake news" phenomenon in order to provide more complete and objective information. Fighting fake news will be done in whatever format it may appear, be it text, photo or video.
The vice president of the European Commission responsible for promoting our European way of life, Margaritis Schinas, was also present at the media conference in Thessaloniki. In his intervention, he gave assurances that Europe has arrived in the Western Balkans to stay.
"We are not passing visitors, we are not shopping for friends, we are the main foreign investment in the region and we are not here to be popular. We do not want to buy football teams, nor radio stations, nor publicity but we are determined to invest in the truth and good governments," Schinas said.
According to the EC vice-president, the objective is to "create around us an ecosystem of good governance, which without a doubt will represent the path to the European Union"
The European official participated in the panel dedicated to the European perspectives of the Western Balkans, together with Giorgos Christidis, assistant professor of Balkan, Slavic and Oriental studies at the University of Macedonia in Thessaloniki, and Elmir Huremovic, general director of the FENA news agency in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Another panel was dedicated to the geopolitical developments in Southeast Europe and the meaning of the news, where the main speaker was Dimitris Galamatis, Secretary General for Communication and Information in the Greek Government. Among the participants in this panel were Nikos Panagiotou, associate professor at the School of Journalism and Mass Media Communication of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, the general secretary of the European Alliance of News Agencies (EANA), Alexandru Giboi, and the directors of the press BTA (Bulgaria), Kiril Valcev, and ATA (Albania), Armela Krasniqi.
The mayor of the city of Thessaloniki, Konstantinos Zervas, referred to interconnection networks as bridges of cooperation and development, the theme of the third debate panel, which was also attended by Sophia Zaharaki, the deputy minister of tourism in Greece, Hazal Duran, director of international relations at Anadolu Ajanci (Turkey), Teodora Georgieva - executive director and member of the board of directors of the gas interconnection company between Greece and Bulgaria ICGB AD, and Marina Spyridaki, director of corporate affairs at Aegean Airlines.
