Ukrainian Volodymyr Zelenskyy tops POLITICO 28 poll as Europe’s most powerful person
Фото: Denise Nestor для POLITICO
POLITICO readers named Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky the most powerful person in Europe.
The Audience Choice online poll aims to update the annual POLITICO 28 list of most powerful people that was released in December. The list, which predicts who will shape the political climate and make the big decisions in Europe this year, is the result of months of debate among the 100-strong editorial team.
In light of Russia's invasion of Ukraine and the profound geopolitical and economic changes that followed, POLITICO invited readers to vote on changes to the list.
A contributor to the Audience Choice survey, which was launched in early March, described Zelenskyy as "a beacon of hope" fighting for "peace, democracy, decency" as Ukraine struggles to resist a invasion by Russian forces.
Since the fighting began in the early hours of February 24, Zelenskyy has posted regular video updates on social media, including posts of him in downtown Kyiv and at work in his presidential office complex.
He has also given powerful video speeches to the US Congress, the UK Parliament and the German Bundestag, among others, tailoring each appearance to convey a central message: that Ukraine needs more support from the West in its fight against Russia.
Critically, his message has helped change the nature of debate in European capitals, forcing the kind of shifts in government policy that were unthinkable just months ago.
For example, Germany suspended the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline just before the invasion and broke a long-standing taboo on sending weapons to conflict zones, while pledging to increase defense spending. . Elsewhere, countries recently critical of European migration policy, such as Poland and Hungary, have opened their borders to millions of refugees fleeing the conflict in Ukraine.
POLITICO named Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi as our most powerful person last December.
