 "Shadow of Trump's politics grows bigger in Europe")
With George Simion’s victory in the first round of Romania’s presidential re-run on Sunday, the influence of US President Donald Trump’s political style is gaining traction across Europe.
Latest to join the list, Simion is among the growing number of nationalist and Eurosceptic leaders rising to prominence in Central and Eastern Europe, mirroring the President Trump’s populist rhetoric and policies.
A vocal admirer of President Trump, Simion has embraced a nationalist, anti-establishment agenda that is in line with MAGA-style rhetoric.
Simion convincingly won the first round of elections on Sunday, making him a strong favourite to win the final round on May 18.
Hungary and Slovakia have already seen the emergence of pro-Trump figures at the highest levels of government, with Hungary’s and Slovakia’s prime ministers openly aligning with Trump-style nationalism and conservative values.
After Trump’s victory in November, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban had hailed Trump’s win as a “much needed victory for the world”, while Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico welcomed “a defeat of liberal and progressive ideas”.
“The biggest comeback in US political history! Congratulations to President Donald Trump on his enormous win. A much needed victory for the World!” Orban had posted on X.
Orban enjoys warm relations with his “good friend” Trump, whom he visited twice last year before the US presidential elections.
In neighbouring Slovakia, Fico hailed the win of “conservative oriented” Trump.
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More Shorts“It is certainly a defeat of liberal and progressive ideas,” AFP quoted Fico as saying at a press conference then.
On May 18, Poland will hold the first round of a presidential ballot, where both the nationalist candidate Karol Nawrocki and the far-right upstart Sławomir Mentzen have been making gains. If no candidate wins more than 50% of votes, a second round will be held two weeks later.
Nawrocki met Trump this week — a move seen as a symbolic nod to his ideological alignment with the President Trump’s brand of politics.
“President Trump said ‘you will win’,” Reuters quoted Nawrocki as saying to private broadcaster TV Republika.
“I read it as a kind of wish for my success in the upcoming elections, and also awareness of it, and after this whole day I can say that the American administration is aware of what is happening in Poland,” he added.
Poland’s PiS party, which backs presidential candidate Karol Nawrocki, has firmly aligned itself with President Trump, with its lawmakers famously chanting Trump’s name in parliament following his re-election.
Europe now faces the real prospect that, within weeks, two of Ukraine’s immediate neighbours — Romania and Poland — could be led by presidents who are openly hostile to Brussels and embracing a MAGA-style brand of politics.
“Congratulations,” Nawrocki wrote to Simion in a message of support on X Monday, signaling growing solidarity among nationalist leaders in the region.
If both are elected, Nawrocki and Simion would join Hungary’s Viktor Orbán and Slovakia’s Robert Fico to form a bloc of hard-right, Eurosceptic leaders — united in challenging the EU’s stance on issues such as migration, national sovereignty, LGBTQ+ rights, and relations with Russia.
Elsewhere in Europe, Trump-aligned politics is also on the rise.
In France, Marine Le Pen continues to be a powerful political force, with her party surging in opinion polls despite a ban on her candidacy.
After she was barred from running for office for five years, President Trump said the court’s decision to ban French far-right leader from seeking public office was “a very big deal”.
“I know all about it and a lot of people thought she wasn’t going to be convicted for anything,” Politico quoted Trump as saying.
Le Pen, who is the leader of France’s far-right National Rally party, was found guilty of embezzling European Parliament funds and barred from running for office for five years. The decision means she will likely be unable to run for French president in 2027.
In Italy, Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, known for her nationalist and conservative views, is often described as a pro-Trump leader within the European context.
As the European Parliament elections approach in June, the continent faces a political shift that could reshape its future direction — one increasingly influenced by the legacy and tactics of President Trump.
With inputs from agencies
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