Europe’s leading international news channel says it will launch a new independent channel in Romania which one official involved in the venture said would be on air by the end of 2021.
Euronews said Euronews Romania is a branded affiliate of the Lyon-based headquarters which will broadcast local, regional, national and international news on TV and digital platforms in Romanian language to millions of viewers.
The venture is in partnership with Universitatea Politehnica din București (UPB) and comes after the launch of Euronews affiliates in the last two years: Euronews Albania and Euronews Georgia. Euronews Serbia is set to launch shortly, the channel said.
It is the first branded affiliate to be launched within the European Union and will have its own team of journalists and correspondents across Romania, and also in Brussels, who will be asked to stick to Euronews’ values of independence, impartiality and its ‘All Views’ editorial line.
Mihnea Costoiu, the rector of the Universitatea Politehnica din București, told G4Media that the new channel would “focus on European themes and values” and would probably start broadcasting at the end of the year after getting its audio-visual license. He said it would have 100 employees at the beginning.
Euronews said the new station would “contribute to the diversity of the company’s overall multi-lingual and multi-cultural editorial richness.”
It said that Euronews Romania would benefit from “the worldwide structure of Euronews’ editorial and technical knowledge and resources to bring a unique international perspective to the Romanian media market.
Euronews CEO Michael Peters said he was „very proud” of the agreement and heralded the „ambitious project.”
„Romania has a very competitive media market with several existing news channels. But we believe that Euronews Romania will deliver a unique offer which is missing today in the national media landscape,” he said in a statement.
„Unapologetically impartial, rooted in our European DNA, Euronews has always offered a distinct perspective on news. As Euronews has always done, Euronews Romania will, with objectivity, balance, and accuracy, provide a strong European perspective on news.”
Mr. Costoiu, the UPB rector, said: „We believe that, by providing quality journalism and unbiased information to an audience that needs them more than ever, Euronews Romania is not only a media achievement, but also an educational initiative.
