@markmackinnon

Senior International Correspondent for The Globe and Mail. Now based in London, after stops in Moscow, the Middle East and Beijing.

 London, Kyiv or somewhere else
bsky.app/profile/markmackinnon.bsky.social
Joined February 2009
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2.8KMedia
Oh, and find me here more and more often going forward… bsky.app/profile/markmackinn…
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Worth a watch, if only for the Ben Gvir/crocodile cameo…
Yashar Ali 🐘
@yashar20h
The final campaign ad from Israel’s Yashar! party, led by former military chief Gadi Eisenkot, who is seeking to replace Benjamin Netanyahu as prime minister.
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Due to very high voter turnout there is preemptive optimism that it tips against Netanyahu. But many young first time voters are rightwing and at the end of the day, even with high voter turnout, what matters is how much the opposition bloc has./1
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Panic setting in…
Haaretz.com
@haaretzcom5h
Netanyahu rails nonstop against alleged high Arab turnout, calls it 'emergency' haaretz.com/israel-news/elec…

Netanyahu rails nonstop against alleged high Arab turnout, calls it 'emergency'

***

haaretz.com
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Lily Lynch
@lilyslynch11h
His hoodie 😭xitter.cf/avucic/status/21148220…
Александар Вучић
@avucicOct 26
Безумни напади на људе морају да престану!
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Haaretz.com
@haaretzcom5h
Nationwide voter turnout as of 4 P.M. stood at 55.7 percent, according to the Central Elections Committee. This is the highest turnout recorded at this hour in Israel since the committee began tracking voter turnout by time of day. The data was not collected before the 1973 election.
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Nedad Memić@NedadMemic10h
Serbia’s public broadcaster has apologized twice in the last 35 years for spreading regime propaganda: first for the Milošević propaganda that fuelled the wars of aggression in Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina, and now for serving as a mouthpiece of the Vučić regime.
NEXTA
@nexta_tv12h
📺 “We reported events one-sidedly for years”: Serbian TV apologizes to viewers after Vučić's party loses the election Radio Television of Vojvodina (RTV) opened its news broadcast with footage of celebrations following the Student List's election victory — scenes it had failed to show the previous evening. “For years, we failed to fulfill our duty. We kept silent, turned a blind eye, reported events one-sidedly, and failed to ask the necessary questions. For that, we owe our viewers an apology,” news anchor Goran Eror said. Following the controversy, RTV's acting editor-in-chief Nenad Čačić resigned. A similar incident occurred in Hungary, where state television also apologized to viewers after Viktor Orbán's election defeat.
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Aleksandr Vucic wobbled on the line between “managed democracy” and outright authoritarianism - which made his half-and-half regime vulnerable, just as Shevardnadze, Orban and Yanukovych were, and Lukashenko and Putin (so far) are not…
Dušan Pavlović
@d_pavlovicOct 25
Чињеница да је један лабаво организован и децентрализован покрет, без средстава, без лидера, партијске инфраструктуре и политичког искуства, успео да победи моћну клијентелистичку партијску машинерију изучаваће се на универзитетима на курсевима упоредне политике и политичке економије и анализирати у научним радовима и књигама.
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“We are here and Vucic is gone!” Serbians celebrate the ouster of long-ruling Aleksandr Vucic as a victory for democracy. But what will their new leaders deliver? My report from Belgrade theglobeandmail.com/world/ar…

Serbians celebrate ouster of Vucic as proof their country is a real democracy

The question now is how the Student List, whose candidates were selected via a plenum, will govern

theglobeandmail.com
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Before conceding, Vučić deployed police and gendarmerie around key state buildings, switched off the lights, and allowed Ćacilend to reappear. Then, two hours later, he conceded. So, what happened in Belgrade between 7 and 9 p.m. on 25 October? New post: patreon.com/matkovic/posts/w…

Why did Vučić concede defeat so suddenly? | Aleksandar Matković

Something happened last night that has received little media attention outside Serbia. Before announcing that he would concede, Vučić used t

patreon.com
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Tim Judah@timjudah1Oct 26
Aleksandar Vucic, Serbia’s autocrat, loses to a bunch of students economist.com/europe/2026/10…

Aleksandar Vucic, Serbia’s autocrat, loses to a bunch of students

A leaderless protest movement hopes to turn the country into a true democracy

economist.com
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Yaroslav Trofimov
@yarotrofOct 26
Israeli opposition takes hope from Vucic’s defeat in Serbia. The Israeli election is tomorrow.
יאיר לפיד - Yair Lapid
@yairlapidOct 26
אבא שלי נולד בנובי-סאד, העיר השנייה בגודלה בסרביה, על גדת נהר הדנובה. הוא היה אוהד של קבוצת וויבודינה. גר ברחוב הרכבת, לא רחוק מהתחנה (תיכף נחזור לתחנה הזו). במרכז העיר יש עד היום בניין קהילה ובית כנסת גדול, יפהפה. אני יודע שחשבתם עד לרגע זה שאבא שלי היה הונגרי, וגם זה נכון. הוא נולד בסרביה למשפחה של דוברי הונגרית, וכל חייו החזיק את שתי הזהויות. כשהייתי ילד היינו נוסעים ליער בן-שמן פעם בשנה, למפגש של הקהילה הסרבית. הם היו מנגנים באקורדיון, אוכלים נקניקיות ורוקדים. זה היה מצחיק לראות את אבא ככה - איש שמן רוקד. צוחק ורוקד ואוכל עוד נקניקיה. ״הסרבים,״ אבא היה אומר, ״היו היחידים שמעולם לא ויתרו לנאצים. הם לקחו רובים ועלו להרים, להלחם משם. סרבים לא נכנעים לעולם.״ בנובמבר 2024 קרס הגג של התחנה בנובי-סאד. 16 איש נהרגו. התברר שהתחנה שופצה פעמיים תוך כמה שנים, מקורבים של השלטון נחקרו, שנתיים אחרי אף אחד לא נענש. ברחובות נולדה סיסמא: ״השחיתות הורגת״. הצעירים התחילו לצאת להפגין. כל בוקר ב- 11:52, השעה שבה קרס הגג, הם עצרו את המדינה ל-16 דקות דומיה. דקה לזכר כל הרוג. על הגשרים ניתלו שלטים שתבעו ועדת חקירה ממלכתית. במרץ 2025 מאות אלפים יצאו לרחובות. ווצ'יץ', הנשיא, הפעיל עליהם את כל המכונה. אמר שהם ״סוכנים זרים״, פעילי המפלגה שלו הפעילו אלימות, ערוצי התקשורת שלו הפיצו עליהם שקרים. ישראל איינהורן, היועץ של נתניהו שברח מישראל בגלל קטאר-גייט, היה אחד מיועצי הקמפיין. חלק גדול מהקמפיין היה על הקשרים הקרובים של ווצ'יץ' עם טראמפ. רוב הסקרים אמרו שווצ'יץ' הולך לנצח. ״סקר הסקרים״, יומיים לפני הבחירות, נתן לו יתרון של 3%. הרבה מאוד סרבים שקעו בדכדוך, אמרו, ״הוא לא יילך לעולם, הוא ימציא משהו ברגע האחרון.״ אבל הרבה יותר סרבים אמרו, ״אל תבלבלו את המוח. אנחנו פשוט נלחם על המדינה האהובה שלנו ולא נוותר.״ הבחירות היו אתמול. ווצ'יץ' הפסיד. בגדול. אחוזי ההצבעה היו הגבוהים ביותר מאז התפרקה יוגוסלביה וסרביה זכתה בעצמאות. ווצ'יץ' הפסיד בפער של 13%. הודה בתבוסה. הסרבים אמרו, אנחנו לא מוכנים שירמו אותנו, אנחנו לא קונים תעמולת הפחדה, השחיתות והשקרים לא ינצחו אותנו. הם אמרו: אנחנו סרבים, ואנחנו נחליט על העתיד שלנו. אבא צדק, הם לא נכנעו. ואנחנו ישראלים, ואנחנו לא נכנעים, ואנחנו נחליט על העתיד שלנו. מחר נוכיח את זה.
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Reuters
@ReutersOct 26
People in Belgrade celebrated following Serbia's Aleksandar Vucic speech conceding defeat to a student-led protest movement in a historic election that ends his long grip on power and heralds a new political era in the Balkan country reut.rs/4zNMyDB

Student-led protest movement celebrates election win in Serbia - News

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kos_data
@kos_dataOct 25
🇭🇺🇷🇸 Hungarians are congratulating Serbs with this video. Video: Vucic and Orban waving at nobody.
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Elliot Kaufman
@ElliotKaufman6Oct 25
New: Sources from three countries confirm that the Trump Administration has advocated Viktor Orbán for UN Secretary-General. The US has encouraged Orbán to enter the race, even bringing him the initial idea of a joint U.S.-Russia-China candidacy. WSJ: wsj.com/opinion/viktor-orban…

Opinion | Viktor Orbán, U.N. Secretary-General?

Trump officials push the idea of a U.S.-Russia-China joint candidate.

wsj.com
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A landslide for the Students List if this holds up. theguardian.com/world/live/2…

Wild scenes of celebration in Belgrade as Vučić concedes Serbian election – Europe live

Student List movement projected to have 138 seats in the new parliament, well clear of the 126 required for majority, to Vučić’s 104

theguardian.com
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Wow. First Orban, now Vucic. The Kremlin has unexpectedly lost two of its top allies in Europe…
Una Hajdari@UnaHajdariOct 25
Former Serbian president Aleksandar Vucic just announced defeat in the elections, declaring a victory for the Student List.
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Una Hajdari@UnaHajdariOct 25
The EU ambassador to Serbia urging for calm in the final hours of voting, as gendarmerie units fan out across Belgrade. The call for calm should apply to whoever sent them, and Brussels needs to pick up the phone and make that call directly.
A von Beckerath
@vBeckerathOct 25
We are deeply concerned about reported violent incidents across a number of polling stations. Serbian citizens need to be able to exercise their democratic right to vote in a peaceful and safe environment. We call on all actors to remain calm, to act responsibly and refrain from violence and provocations and on the competent institutions to ensure safety of all involved in the electoral process.
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Positive indicators in the Serbian elections: historic turnout (65% at 18 pm with two hours to go), very high social mobilization. Negative indicators: the regime is gathering police forces in Belgrade, the pro-regime patriarch of the Serbian church is calling for the election results to be accepted. A bad cocktail is brewing. Hope I'm wrong.
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Szabolcs Panyi
@panyiszabolcsOct 25
🔎📱 Serbia’s latest spyware scandal: @citizenlab found that Pegasus hacked Belgrade University rector Vladan Đokić, a supporter of student protests. Prosecutor Rade Bajić also received a spyware warning. At least 16 NGO figures targeted. @VSquare_Project vsquare.org/pegasus-and-merc…

Pegasus and Mercenary Spyware Attacks on Serbian Pro-Democracy Figures - VSquare.org

Professor Vladan Đokić, Rector of the University of Belgrade, and prominent supporter of the Serbian student movement, was hacked with NSO Group’s Pegasus spyware in 2026.

vsquare.org
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Europe Elects
@EuropeElectsOct 25
Serbia: National parliament election Turnout at 9:00 AM UTC 2014: 5.30% 2016: 5.20% 2020: 5.20% 2022: 5.10% 2023: 5.20% 2026: 12.00% CeSID/Ipsos ➤ europeelects.eu/serbia #Serbia
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