Merkel’s popularity in the EU soaring – They would even prefer her for “president of Europe”

Shortly before the end of the Merkel era, the German Chancellor’s popularity in European Union It is so high that Europeans would prefer it even for president of Europe, if there was such an office.

If there was an election for president of Europe, the chancellor Angela Merkel would clearly win with 41% of the vote against French President Emanuel Macron with 14%, according to a poll published today in Brussels on behalf of the European Council on External Relations (ECFR). There were no other candidates in the survey.

In this hypothetical question, the Christian Democrat (CDU) politician would be elected by an absolute majority in the Netherlands (58%), Spain (57%) and Portugal (52%). One in four Europeans would not even run in such an election. However, such an office, a president of the European Union elected by European citizens, does not exist.

According to the authors of the study, one of the greatest successes of Chancellor Merkel’s European policy is that it dispelled doubts about Germany’s sovereignty in Europe. Half of the respondents (49%) have the same opinion about the also German President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen (CDU).

However, 34% of Europeans surveyed believe that Germany’s heyday is over. This is the opinion of the citizens in Germany itself, but also in Austria, 52% of the respondents in each. 21% of Europeans believe that Germany is experiencing its golden age right now. The Spaniards in particular have this opinion at 32%, also 27% of Poles and 26% of Portuguese, but only 15% of Germans.

The ECFR think tank conducts research on European foreign and security policy. The survey was conducted in May and June of this year and asked citizens from Germany, Austria, Denmark, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Bulgaria and Hungary.