Trieste, 10 September 2026 (MIA) - "The Balkans Meet in Trieste" was the theme of this year's two-day international conference of the Association of Balkan News Agencies – Southeast Europe (ABNA-SE) held in Trieste, Italy. Organized by the Italian news agency ANSA, the event was also attended by MIA 

At the conference, directors and chief editors of the members of ABNA-SE, as well as political representatives from the region and media experts, discussed the role of news agencies in enhancing regional cooperation, preserving press freedom, and tackling disinformation. 

The Chief Executive Office of ANSA, Stefano De Alessandri, outgoing ABNA-SE Secretary General and head of Bulgarian news agency BTA, Kiril Valchev, and the President of ABNA-SE and Deputy Director of Bosnian news agency FENA, Ilija Musa, addressed several panels and touched upon freedom of the press, underscoring the key challenges faced by journalists from the region. 

The conference in Trieste was held as part of the 34th General Assembly of ABNA-SE, where MIA was represented by its Editor-in-Chief Pandorka Arsovska-Gacova and editor Violeta Gerov. 

The Assembly adopted the budget and working program of ABNA-SE for 2026 and re-elected members of the Association's Management Board, including MIA's Director General, Darko Janevski. Participants dismissed Kiril Valchev from the post of ABNA-SE Secretary General upon his request, due to his candidacy for Vice President of Bulgaria in October's presidential elections. Evgenia Drumeva was elected as his successor with a two-year term. She will also hold the post of Director General of BTA. 

Next year's ABNA-SE General Assembly will be hosted by Bosnian news agency FENA.  

Twelve news agencies make up ABNA-SE, including MIA, ATA, Anadolu Agency, FENA, BTA, HINA, CNA, ANA-MPA, Kosova Press, MINA, Agerpres and ANSA. 

At the 30th General Assembly, held in Burgas in 2022, ABNA-SE from an informal organization, functioning for over 30 years, became a formal association registered as a legal entity with its own statute and rules of conduct for all members as well as criteria that should be met by those who want to join the association. A statute was passed at the Burgas meeting, created on the basis of the legal document of the European Alliance of News Agencies, which allows ABNA-SEE in its work to apply the European standards and rules of the European Union.