—🔴 JUST IN: Students gather in Belgrade tonight. Elections are just three days away.

🔗 Thomas van Linge

✅ @balkanspectator — the leading Balkan news channel in English

—🔴 JUST IN: Serbia’s ruling SNS party, led by former President Aleksandar Vucic, held its final rally in Nis ahead of Sunday’s general elections.

🔗 The National Independent

✅ @balkanspectator — the leading Balkan news channel in English

—👑 / 🇷🇸 NEW: In a statement, Prince Filip Karađorđević warned that buying a media company does not give its owner control over journalists’ conscience or professional integrity.

➡️ He said editorial independence must be protected and described free media as a right of citizens.

✅ @balkanspectator — the leading Balkan news channel in English

—FULL STATEMENT:

At a time when our society needs free, independent and professional media more than ever, any pressure on their editorial independence, or attempt to subordinate them to interests that do not serve the public, is a serious blow not only to journalism but to society as a whole.

Journalists and media workers who have maintained their professional dignity under pressure and financial uncertainty, even at personal cost, deserve particular respect. Their commitment reminds us that public trust cannot be bought overnight; it is earned over years through truth, responsibility and honest work.

Those who take ownership of media outlets must understand that they also assume responsibility for preserving what generations of journalists before them have built. Buying a media company does not buy the conscience, convictions or professional integrity of the people who work there.

Media freedom is not a matter of political allegiance, but of every citizen’s freedom and dignity. We must defend it even when we disagree with a media outlet’s editorial policy. A society in which independent voices are silenced loses the ability to discuss its own future openly.

Serbia needs institutions that inspire trust, media that are free to ask questions, and people who refuse to abandon their principles. Free media are not a privilege of journalists, but a right of citizens.

Crown Prince Filip

✅ @balkanspectator — the leading Balkan news channel in English

#BREAKING | 🇷🇺 🇨🇳 🇺🇸 — Russia says Putin-Xi-Trump summit 'being prepared'

🌐 — The Global Eye | Subscribe ✈️

🗳 🇫🇷 📊 Marine Le Pen would win any runoff in France’s 2027 presidential race, poll finds

📝 RealRationalist: "Any runoff" means the five duels Ifop tested for LCI, from 56% vs. Philippe to 68% vs. Mélenchon. The online poll of 1,928 registered voters ran from 8 p.m. Oct. 17 to Oct. 19, overlapping the Oct. 17–18 urban violence.

https://www.tf1info.fr/politique/elections/presidentielle/sondage-lci-presidentielle-2027-apres-les-violences-du-17-octobre-ce-que-revele-notre-derniere-enquete-2471007.html

📎 NewsWire

#BREAKING | 🇹🇷 🇶🇦 🇵🇰 🇮🇩 — Türkiye, Qatar, Pakistan, and Indonesia signed the “Badr” defense industry cooperation pact in Doha.

Defense ministers agreed to a memorandum of understanding covering joint production, R&D, and military training. The deal shifts bilateral projects to a multilateral framework, leveraging each nation’s production strengths. “Badr” means full moon in Arabic.

🌐 — The Global Eye | Subscribe ✈️

—🇫🇷 WATCH: Armored vehicles are now parked in front of Macron’s official residence, the Élysée Palace.

🔗 Visegrád 24

✅ @balkanspectator — the leading Balkan news channel in English

—🇫🇷 WATCH: A CENTAURE armored vehicle from the gendarmerie is deployed in front of the National Assembly in Paris.

🔗 AlertesInfos

✅ @balkanspectator — the leading Balkan news channel in English

—🗳🇷🇸 Statement from The National Independent, Serbian news account on X:

Serbia goes to the polls tomorrow.

Hoping that everything goes smoothly and that, whatever the results, they will be accepted and respected.

May the people of Serbia find the strength to listen to one another, bridge their differences and move forward together.

✅ @balkanspectator — the leading Balkan news channel in English

—🇫🇷 NEW: The Macron government has announced an increase of 10,000 police officers who will be added to the 60,000 already deployed last Saturday.

✅ @balkanspectator — the leading Balkan news channel in English

—🔴 JUST IN: A demonstration is reported to be underway in Clermont-Ferrand, where authorities have banned gatherings in the city centre for Saturday.

➡️ Trade unions had maintained their call to protest and challenged the ban in court.

✅ @balkanspectator — the leading Balkan news channel in English

—🔴 JUST IN: Around 150 people gathered near Lyon 3 University on Saturday morning.

➡️ Police fired tear gas to disperse them after protesters blocked traffic, an AFP journalist reported.

➡️ Demonstrations are banned across a large part of central Lyon today.

🔗 AFP report

✅ @balkanspectator — the leading Balkan news channel in English

🇮🇹 UPDATED: The Army has been deployed in Milan.