Who’s who in the EU? The state of the union through its 27 leaders

Austria

Christian Stocker, chancellor

Less flashy than his predecessors, the conservative’s three-party coalition with Social Democrats and Liberals has generated fewer headlines, too, than his party’s previous alliance with the far-right Freedom Party (FPÖ).

But political risks remain: recession, rising unemployment and a strained budget have forced spending cuts and business tax hikes to meet euro deficit limits.

Belgium

Bart De Wever, prime minister

Belgium’s first Flemish prime minister took over in 2025. However, the political instability that has plagued Belgium over recent years returned this month when De Wever tendered his resignation over the failure of his left-right coalition to agree austerity measures. Belgium’s king Philippe has given De Wever until next Monday to salvage his administration, failing which the country will be plunged into another crisis. De Wever skipped the summit in Dublin.

Bulgaria

Rumen Radev, prime minister

The president of his country until January this year, he quit to form a new centre-left political party, Progressive Bulgaria. It won parliamentary elections in April, breaking five years of political deadlock in Bulgaria after a series of repeatedly inconclusive votes.

Radev is accused by his critics of being too soft towards Russia and Vladimir Putin. The Bulgarian prime minister must balance this line with his country’s membership of the Nato military alliance, all while reviving growth in an economy mired in corruption and with popular protests over its budget.

Croatia

Andrej Plenkovic, prime minister

Seen as a beacon of political stability in Europe, Plenkovic is Croatia’s longest-serving postwar leader. After just over a decade running his country, he is also currently the EU leader with the longest unbroken streak in power. The pro-EU Plenkovic frequently clashes with his country’s more populist president Zoran Milanovic. Croatia, meanwhile, remains economically resilient, but with severe housing and labour shortages.

Cyprus

Nikos Christodoulides, president

A surge in left- and right-wing populist movements in parliamentary elections in May weakened the power base of the country’s pro-EU leader, Christodoulides. Since winning a presidential election as an independent in 2023, he has pressed for greater European integration and wants to bring Cyprus into the bloc’s Schengen zone. He has taken a strict line towards Turkey, while also pushing for reunification of his divided Mediterranean island. Cyprus, meanwhile, boasts a booming economy.

Czechia

Andrej Babiš, prime minister

An agrifoods billionaire who is seen as Czechia’s version of Donald Trump. He is in his second stint leading his country’s government, a populist right-wing, Eurosceptic coalition that won power a year ago. Babiš has dialled down his government’s support for Ukraine and has clashed with Brussels over environmental policies. Czechia is economically stable but, like many of its bloc partners, is struggling with a cost-of-living crisis.

Denmark

Mette Frederiksen, prime minister

The Danish leader was widely praised for standing up to Trump over Greenland, and she tried to capitalise on a polling surge in March with a snap election. However, the result was a hung parliament. Frederiksen formed a fragile new centre-left coalition after two months of negotiations. Her coalitions may have got kudos for their diplomacy skills, but Danish voters remain angry over cost-of-living issues. Frederiksen’s anti-migration tilt alienated some left-wingers, while failing to satisfy those on the right.

Estonia

Kristen Michal, prime minister

The Reform Party leader is in a vulnerable position heading into parliamentary elections next March. His minority coalition is under big pressure as Estonia emerges from a multiyear economic slump, while the country remains on alert in the face of Putin’s threats in the region. Michal has continued the same hawkish stance towards Russia that was held by his predecessor Kaja Kallas, now the EU’s foreign policy chief.

Finland

Petteri Orpo, prime minister

The Nordic country shares a 1,340km land border with Russia, and security concerns prompted it to join Nato following the invasion of Ukraine. Yet like Estonia’s Michal, Orpo is also in a vulnerable position heading into elections next spring, as Finnish voters grapple with the exhausting effects of years of austerity and high unemployment.

France

Emmanuel Macron, president

The French president is in the last months of his final term. Internationally, he is seen as a leading statesman, EU dynamo, and the instigator of the European Political Community (EPC), which held a summit in Dublin this week. Domestically, the picture is very different: France is more indebted than ever, growth remains elusive, and vast angry street protests are united in rejecting Macron. In a spring election, the public looks set to reject the centre ground that Macron represents and swing to the hard left or right.

Germany

Friedrich Merz, chancellor

Germany may be emerging from seven years of negligible growth, but lingering security and energy questions are burdening a wobbly manufacturing base. Historically unpopular, Merz presides over an ill-tempered coalition, struggling to resolve inherited infrastructure challenges while revving up military spending. His own CDU backbenchers are jittery as the far-right AfD has opened up a seven-point poll lead.

Greece

Kyriakos Mitsotakis, prime minister

Mitsotakis, who has run his country’s government for almost all of the past seven years, raised a red flag at the summit in Dublin over a controversial maritime agreement between Libya and Turkey, Greece’s perpetual sparring partner. Mitsotakis argues the maritime deal doesn’t respect the sovereignty of Greek islands. He is in a strong position heading into next summer’s parliamentary elections, as the Greek economy is in growth mode while the opposition is splintered.

Hungary

Péter Magyar, prime minister

The former Fidesz party stalwart deposed Hungary’s previous strongman leader, Viktor Orbán, in May’s elections. Magyar’s new Tisza bloc swept to a constitutional supermajority and immediately set about restoring relations with Brussels and dismantling the system built around Orbán. He must contend, however, with escalating budget deficits without losing Hungarian voters through austerity.

Ireland

Micheál Martin, Taoiseach

The longest serving Fianna Fáil leader after Éamon de Valera, Martin is in his second and, some believe, final stint as Taoiseach.

He is due to swap the role with Fine Gael leader Simon Harris in 12 months under the coalition parties’ rotation arrangement, but grumblings about Martin’s leadership are expected to re-emerge before then, after the State’s EU presidency ends. He leads a state awash with cash from foreign multinationals in which public services are nevertheless under strain. He is under pressure from some party members who believe he is too cautious on Irish unity, while others think his leadership style is autocratic.

Italy

Giorgia Meloni, prime minister

Head of Italy’s right-wing government since 2022, Giorgia Meloni set aside radical roots to become a team player in Brussels while distributing a record-breaking EU stimulus programme at home. Yet Italy continued to struggle with economic stasis, an ageing population, and brain drain, and Meloni now faces anger over the cost of living and a challenge from the right as she heads for a 2027 election.

Latvia

Andris Kulbergs, prime minister

The pro-Western Kulbergs took over as prime minister in May, and after last month’s parliamentary elections, his United List party is in a commanding position to continue leading the government. Coalition talks are ongoing, leaving Kulsberg’s populist, pro-Russian opponents out in the cold. Security concerns such as repeated Russian drone incursions have raised anxiety levels among citizens in the Baltic country.

Lithuania

Mindaugas Sinkevičius, prime minister

The relatively youthful Lithuanian leader, aged 42, a former municipal mayor, overturned a 2024 criminal conviction and subsequent public office ban to take over as prime minister in July, following Inga Ruginienė’s resignation during coalition upheaval. He purged hard-right elements from Lithuania’s government but faces growing voter concern over fiscal constraints and security worries.

Luxembourg

Luc Frieden, prime minister

The urbane Harvard-educated lawyer’s political position is relatively stable, with a comfortable parliamentary majority and elections not due until 2028. However, Frieden’s personal political popularity has steadily declined since he took office in 2023. Luxembourgers are growing frustrated over a sluggish economy and a deeply entrenched housing crisis.

Malta

Robert Abela, prime minister

The son of former president George Abela led his Labour party to a historic fourth general election victory in May. Meanwhile, Malta’s economy is booming through growth in tourism, gaming and technology. Abela, who took over as leader just before the Covid pandemic, still must contend with public concern over creaking infrastructure and economic bottlenecks.

Netherlands

Rob Jetten, prime minister

The Dutch government is on the brink after less than a year in office, after Jetten’s centrist colleagues joined up with left-wing opposition to vote for a wealth tax, angering the right-wing parties in the existing coalition. The Netherlands’ youngest and first openly gay prime minister skipped the summit in Dublin to try to salvage his administration and prevent another election.

Poland

Donald Tusk, prime minister

Poland’s bumper economy, with 3.5 per cent growth, hasn’t fixed a polarised public discourse, burdened even further by the recent mass shooting in Krakow, an aggressive Russia and growing anti-Ukrainian feeling. Tusk’s struggle to restore the rule of law in courts ensures a vicious election battle next year against a strident national conservative-far-right alliance.

Portugal

Luis Montenegro, prime minister

The storms that battered Lisbon this week and halted the Web Summit are currently reflected in Portugal’s national politics, where Montenegro’s minority government is struggling to pass a budget in the face of rent protests and rampant energy-price inflation. Strained public services and a severe housing crisis are roiling voters, while Chega, the hard-right opposition, waits in the wings, ready to capitalise.

Romania

Luca Niculescu, prime minister

The former diplomat and journalist was tapped up by Romania’s president in October to break months of political deadlock after three previous nominees for the post of prime minister failed to secure enough parliamentary backing. Meanwhile, Romania struggles under the dead weight of a moribund economy and one of the biggest budget deficits in Europe. The technocratic Niculescu has much to do.

Slovakia

Robert Fico, prime minister

A strong critic of aid for Ukraine, Fico refused to participate in a €90 billion EU loan for the country last year. His government has survived numerous controversies, including judicial reforms and media restrictions. The country is facing weak growth and pressure to repair public finances, leading to unpopular austerity measures.

Slovenia

Janez Janša, prime minister

A long-time admirer of Donald Trump, Janez Janša’s appointment as prime minister earlier this year meant right-wing populism gained a new foothold in Europe. On the day he took office, Israel announced it would open an embassy in the small central European country. Slovenia’s economy is healthy by European standards, but voters are impatient over healthcare and housing shortages.

Spain

Pedro Sánchez, prime minister

A political survivor who maintained centre-left rule in Spain for almost a decade as Europe has shifted right, Pedro Sánchez is fighting for another term in a November 21st election. Spain is outperforming the rest of the EU economically, but polls are tight. Public anger over soaring housing costs, the Ceuta border crisis, two train disasters and lingering corruption scandals may see a conservative government take power with the support of the radical right.

Sweden

Ulf Kristersson, prime minister

Kristersson is a caretaker leader amid Sweden’s continuing coalition talks stalemate. After tackling gang violence and reversing migration policy, his party lost the September election. Two months on, a standoff in the victorious centre-left alliance has raised his hopes of a second term with support of centrists and, in a taboo-breaking move, far-right parties.