In March 2017, the head of Slovakia’s largest public news agency, TASR, revealed that the company has a news sharing agreement with major Russian state-sponsored media outlet, TASS. Jaroslav Reznik, the head of TASR, mentioned the agreement while attempting to defend a new agreement with Russian state-sponsored outlet Sputnik. According to the National Endowment for Democracy, “TASR does not noticeably differentiate foreign reports from its own,” meaning that “Russian state news can be inadvertently packaged as being from TASR and distributed by Slovak media.” Sputnik News Agency signed the agreement to exchange English language content and develop “joint projects aiming to strengthen the relations between Russia and Slovakia.” The National Endowment for Democracy reported that “the pressure from civil society, independent media, and some opposition figures was so strong that TASR cancelled its contract with Sputnik days after its initial announcement.”