National Coalition for Modernization of Romania does not support altering AGERPRES law

Director General of the National News Agency AGERPRES, Alexandru Giboi, had a meeting on Wednesday, at the headquarters of the agency, with Vice-President of the National Coalition for Modernization of Romania (CNMR) Liviu Besleaga with whom he discussed about the amendment of the AGERPRES law. 

Alexandru Giboi and Liviu Besleaga expressed, in a joint press statement, the disagreement with the modification of the AGERPRES law, as proposed and voted by the Senate of Romania. 

"The National News Agency AGERPRES must remain independent of any political interference. AGERPRES is currently a pillar of stability and professionalism of the Romanian press, and its political subordination would lead to the loss of the credibility of this public press institution. With the loss of credibility, the decline of the Agency will follow. The evolution and modernization of AGERPRES can only be ensured by keeping the editorial stability and equidistance. Due to those reasons we do not support the modification of the AGERPRES law as proposed and voted by the Senate of Romania," said Alexandru Giboi and Liviu Besleaga. 

Also, in this context, CNMR President Alexandru Cumpanasu said he would ask for meetings with parliamentary committees in the Chamber of Deputies to identify the best solutions for keeping the editorial independence and freedom of speech of the journalists with the agency. 

"Following the informal meeting I had with the representatives of the diplomatic environment accredited in Bucharest, they voiced their concern about the increasingly lower independence of journalists in the private or public sector. Unfortunately, there is a control tendency from all areas of society: political, business, underground clans, control over the opinions voiced in the public space and reduction of objective sources of information. As to the AGERPRES law, we will request meetings with parliamentary committees in the Chamber of Deputies to identify the best solutions for keeping editorial independence and freedom of speech of the journalists with the Agency," he said. 

On October 30, the Senate adopted the legislative initiative for the completion of Law 19/2003 on the organization and functioning of the National News Agency AGERPRES, which proposes the dismissal of the Director General in the case of Parliament's rejection of the annual activity report of the institution. 

The bill, initiated by PSD senator and Culture minister Lucian Romascanu, and PSD senators Valer-Daniel Breaz, Gabriela Cretu, Ovidiu-Cristian-Dan Marciu and Liviu-Lucian Mazilu, is to be debated also by the Chamber of Deputies as the decision-making body. 

In the explanatory note of the normative act, the initiators argue that AGERPRES' Director General "enjoys total immunity within his mandate," adding that of "the public cultural institutions under parliamentary control, the National News Agency is the only in whose case Parliament has no instrument of action if it finds a non-performing management." 

The Director of the National News Agency has sent an open letter to the ambassadors accredited in Bucharest, in which he stressed his willingness for a decent debate on the subject of AGERPRES evolution, "based on professional, objective criteria, not on political criteria." 

The topic was also taken over by prestigious media institutions such as the New York Times, Washington Post, Euronews or Fox News. 

ActiveWatch said that the amendments proposed to the AGERPRES law risk to align the national news agency "in the gallery of controllable institutions" and drew attention to the fact that civil society was present but "completely" ignored at debates in the Senate's Committee on Culture and Media. AGERPRES .