Skopje, 12 May 2023 (MIA) — The Media Information Agency and the State Archives of the Republic of North Macedonia signed Friday a Memorandum of Cooperation for the digitization of photographs and other materials from the MIA archive.

The State Archives' acting director Emil Krsteski said that archiving MIA materials would be history-affirming.

"Our cooperation will be in the fields of science, education and culture, which are very important for our country's entire information system," Krsteski said.

"It is an affirmation of our history and our past through MIA," he said, voicing his hopes that the news agency would continue factually reporting on events that would shape the course of history for years to come.

According to Krsteski, MIA's historical photos should be made accessible to the public.

MIA director Dragan Antonovski said the signing of the memorandum with the State Archives was an encouraging example of cooperation.

"Thank you for what lies ahead, for what we will work on together," Antonovski said. "This is a real example of inter-institutional cooperation between MIA, which reports on developments in the country, the region and the world, and the State Archives, which knows how to preserve materials for future generations.

"This is our treasure. Our goal is to digitize MIA's old photographs so they can remain to testify to the events that happened in the country over the last 20 years."

The State Archive would give access to the materials to researchers and the public while also preserving them for posterity, Antonovski pointed out. mr/