Who is the most beloved leader?

An exclusive poll conducted by Ipsos for Euronews (based in France) yielded an unsurprising result: Nearly half of the Europeans surveyed have a positive view of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

The poll was conducted with nearly 26,000 respondents across 18 EU member states just ahead of the European Parliament elections taking place from June 6-9.

The survey, the first of its kind conducted in Europe, showed that 47% of respondents had a "positive" view of Zelensky, while 32% had a "negative" view.

Meanwhile, 21% said they “don’t know enough” about the Ukrainian president, who has dominated international media coverage for over two years and has traveled extensively across the continent seeking support for his country.

This makes Zelensky the most popular leader among the eight European leaders surveyed by Ipsos, but the Ukrainian president also has the most fluctuating scores across the participating countries.

In the Nordic region and the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, Zelensky received the highest "positive" ratings: 81% in Finland, 74% in Sweden, 72% in Denmark and Portugal, and 64% in Spain.

Conversely, more than half of those surveyed in Hungary (60%), Greece (57%), and Bulgaria (56%) held a “negative” view of the Ukrainian leader.

Other countries with more "negative" ratings than "positive" ratings include Slovakia (50% vs. 26%), Austria (47% vs. 33%), Italy (41% vs. 32%), and the Czech Republic (37% vs. 36%). While Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala are ardent supporters of Ukraine, the public in these two countries seems to dislike Zelensky.

In Germany, the EU's leading military donor to Kyiv, 41% have a "positive" view and 36% have a "negative" view of the Ukrainian president.

In countries where farmers are angry about the influx of cheap grain from Ukraine, the results are quite surprising: 49% rated it "positively" and 40% "negatively" in Romania, and 57% rated it "positively" and 24% "negatively" in Poland.

Beyond the Ukrainian president, the exclusive Euronews/Ipsos poll also provides insight into how Europeans feel about other prominent leaders on the continent.

French President Emmanuel Macron ranked second in popularity, with 41% of respondents saying they had a "positive" view of him compared to 34% who had a "negative" view. Unsurprisingly, the French people were the least fond of Macron, with 62% choosing "negative" and only 28% choosing "positive".

But Macron is quite popular in Romania (57%), Greece (55%), Germany (53%), Denmark (52%), and the Netherlands (50%).

Regarding German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, 38% of respondents said they “don’t know enough” about the leader of the bloc’s largest economy , while 29% expressed a “positive” view and 33% expressed a “negative” view.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban suffered similar results to the German Chancellor, with 37% of respondents stating they “didn’t know enough” about the populist leader, 48% having a “negative” view, and only 15% having a “positive” assessment.

The Euronews/Ipsos poll also surveyed Russian President Vladimir Putin, with the highest number of people choosing "positive" ratings in Bulgaria (37%), Greece (28%), Slovakia (22%), and Hungary (20%) .

Minh Duc (According to Euronews)

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