The European Alliance of News Agencies (EANA) has expelled Russia’s TASS news agency following a vote at its General Assembly held today in Larnaca, Cyprus.

TASS’s membership had been suspended since February 27, 2022. However, several votes held in 2022 and 2023 failed to secure the three-quarters majority required for its permanent expulsion, KosovaPress reports.

The decision is described as a historic development and the conclusion of a lengthy effort to remove TASS from the alliance. It also represents a strong stance by EANA as an influential actor in the European journalism community.

KosovaPress News Agency has been a member of EANA since September 2022