Russian President Vladimir Putin is the most popular leader in Greece followed by US President-elect Donald Trump, according to a study on ruling world politicians conducted by market researcher and polling company MRB.
Poll results on popular foreign leaders show that 31.8 percent of respondents in Greece expressed a positive opinion of Putin as a state leader. At the same time, the re-elected US President, Donald Trump, comes in second with 29.8 percent favorable opinions. In third place is French President Emmanuel Macron with 27.7 percent of participants expressing positive views of him.
Mistrust of politicians
While the poll focuses on the positive views people in Greece have regarding foreign leaders, in all cases, negative views outweigh the positive. This is probably an indication that the majority of Greeks have lost trust in politicians regardless of the positive views of Putin and Trump, specifically.
In reference to this sentiment, 51.4 percent of Greek respondents said they would prefer a technocrat or academic rather than a politician to be voted in as President of the Hellenic Republic in the upcoming elections. This speaks to Greeks’ increasing mistrust of politicians in general. Furthermore, one in two (46 percent) responded that the president should not be politically affiliated.
In terms of political preferences, 21.7 percent said the new president should come from the Center-Left, while 20.9 percent would prefer someone from the Center-Right.
However, 59.2 percent of those surveyed deem the election of an entirely new president necessary. In comparison, 23.5 percent prefer that Katerina Sakellaropoulou remain in the government’s highest office.
Detailed findings on foreign leaders
Results of MRB polls regarding public sentiment and the popularity of current international leaders in Greece are as follows:
- Vladimir Putin: 31.8 percent positive opinions, 47.6 percent negative, 17.2 percent neither positive nor negative
- Donald Trump: 29.8 percent positive opinions, 44.1 percent negative, 21.9 percent neither positive nor negative
- Emmanuel Macron: 27.7 positive opinions, 42 percent negative, 26 percent neither positive nor negative.
- Xi Jinping: 17.2 percent positive opinions, 37.9 percent negative, 25.9 percent neither positive nor negative.
- Volodymyr Zelensky: 15.4 percent positive opinions, 60.4 percent negative, 20.7 percent neither positive nor negative
- Ursula von der Leyen: 15.3 percent positive opinions, 52.4 percent negative, 24.1 percent neither positive nor negative.
- Joe Biden: 14.3 percent positive opinions, 60.2 percent negative, 22.4 percent neither positive nor negative
- Keir Starmer: 12.3 percent positive opinions, 41 percent negative opinions, 28.9 percent neither positive nor negative
- Benjamin Netanyahu: 11.8 percent positive opinions, 60.6 percent negative opinions, 19 percent neither positive nor negative
- Olaf Scholz: 9.3 percent positive opinions, 56.8 percent negative, 24.6 percent neither positive nor negative
- Recep Tayyip Erdogan: 6.5 percent positive opinions, 80 percent negative, 10.2 percent neither positive nor negative
Lastly, in terms of Donald Trump’s re-election in the 2024 US elections, according to the MRB poll, 45.5 percent of Greeks have a favorable opinion of this, while 44.6 percent are disappointed by this political development.