AGERPRES News

Reception organized by Royal House of Romania on 135th anniversary of AGERPRES

Prince Radu emphasized on Thursday, at the Elisabeta Palace, the importance of the establishment by the Romanian state of a news agency 135 years ago, “one of the most advanced tools to do good to society and to prepare the ground for democracy”.

“Today we have the duty (…) to bow to our forefathers, who succeeded in something almost unimaginable in the 19th century, towards its end, namely to obtain in a less powerful country from the European continent, which had only a few decades since it was formed as a modern state, one of the most advanced instruments to do good to society and to prepare the ground for democracy, that is, a news agency of the Romanian state”, Prince Radu conveyed at the reception organized by the Royal House of Romania on the occasion of the 135th anniversary of the establishment of the National News Agency AGERPRES.

He added that very few Romanian institutions had the historical chance to exist continuously for 135 years, as is the case of the National News Agency.

“There is nothing outdated in the 1866 Constitution. The one we apply today, today’s Constitution (…) resembles to an amazingly large extent to what Carol I did in 1866 and finally Ferdinand I in 1923. So, our main duty today is not to forget that we are at the Elisabeta Palace in 2024 thanks to them. You spoke yesterday (…) about how complicated the fate of a media institution is nowadays, what incredible obstacles it has to overcome, we haven’t found the solution for some of them, and how little you can distinguish today between a piece of news that does harm and one that does good to humanity, especially now, when Romania is involved both through the alliances it made in the EU and in NATO, as well as through its geographical vicinity, both to the continuous disaster in Ukraine and to the one that worries us more and more every day in the Middle East. Under these conditions, I believe that the 135 years of the agency could not be more relevant both in the sad sense of the word and in the good sense of the word. Very few Romanian institutions have had the historical chance to exist continuously for 135 years and you are one of them”, Prince Radu pointed out.

For her part, the director general of AGERPRES, Claudia Nicolae, stated that the mission of the National News Agency can be compared to that of the Royal House, by promoting Romania’s interests on the domestic and international level.

“It is an honor and a source of pride for AGERPRES, first of all, because we have been providers of information to the Royal House since 2019. Secondly, I believe that the mission of AGERPRES can be compared to the mission of the Royal House. We promote, ultimately, the interests of Romania, both inside the country and outside the country. We try to take care of the truth, the objective part of the information (…). AGERPRES has always tried, through the information it provided to readers, partners and clients, to show respect to the news, to the truth, ultimately, to history. This is what we would expect from all the institutions we collaborate with, mutual respect. As long as there is mutual respect, I don’t think that disinformation and fake news would still exist”, said Claudia Nicolae.