Macron the most liked, Orbán the most disliked, an Ipsos poll reveals Europeans’ opinion of their leaders

Brussels – What do European citizens think of their leaders? A recent Ipsos survey asked Europeans about their appreciation of heads of state and government before the June 6-9 elections. The most esteemed, except at home, is French President Emmanuel Macron, while the most unpopular is Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán. What stands out is the Europeans’ lack of acquaintance with the leaders.

Forty-one percent of Europeans surveyed by Ipsos say they have a positive assessment of French President Emmanuel Macron. In Romania, this percentage goes as high as 57, in Germany to 53, and in Italy, it plummets to 31, with 41 percent saying they have a negative opinion instead. If the data for the French head of state are more than positive abroad,  the situation is quite different within national borders: 62 percent disapprove of Macron, and only 28 support him. Favoring the French president’s opinion outside France, according to Francesco Nicoli, a researcher at the Bruegel think tank, is his European leadership and the fact that he has clear ideas about what the future of the EU should look like.

According to the poll, Viktor Orbán is the leader with the highest disapproval rate among the 27 Member States: 48 percent. Only 15 percent approve of his actions, and 37 prefer not to comment or do not know him well enough to do so. In Bulgaria alone (besides Hungary), Orban has more approval than disapproval: 47 versus 24 percent.

The figure regarding the number of people who say they do not know enough about a leader to be able to judge them is something to think about. It does not just regard those of small European States but also Spain and Germany. At the European level, 38 percent of respondents said they did not know the German chancellor Olaf Scholz well enough, a higher percentage of negative opinions (33) than positive ones (29). Worse still for Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez: 25 percent approve of him, 17 disapprove of him, and 58 percent do not know him well enough. This figure reaches even 83 percent in Sweden and 79 in the Netherlands.

On the other hand, there were mixed opinions on Giorgia Meloni: 27 percent like her, 30 disapprove, and 43 do not know her well enough. In Romania, the premier received the most support (54 percent), excluding Italy. In Spain, there was the highest negative opinion: 44 percent. Meloni is little known in the Czech Republic (by 71 percent of respondents) but very well known in Spain (only 23 percent said they did not know enough about her). Meloni’s rallies supporting the post-Franco right-wing party Vox helped Spaniards form an opinion about the current prime minister.