Euro’s ‘strongman ’ leaders on ropes?

So-called “strongman” leaders of Europe — most of whom are allied with the likes of U.S. President Donald Trump and Russia’s Vladimir Putin — look increasingly weak, analysts say, with their popularity waning ahead of key elections.

Trump’s inauguration was expected to give a shot in the arm to nationalist-populist leaders and parties such as Hungary’s Viktor Orban, Slovakia’s Robert Fico, Germany’s right-wing AfD party and Marine Le Pen and her National Rally party in France. But such a boost is not a foregone conclusion, as domestic pressures and economic challenges weigh on their popularity and power.

“The re-election of Donald Trump for a second term in the U.S. had seemed to be a clarion call for a structural political shift towards similarly populist, MAGA style movements across Europe,” Timothy Ash, senior emerging markets strategist at RBC Bluebay Asset Management, said in emailed comments Thursday. MAGA refers to “Make America Great Again” — a slogan that has historically underpinned Trump’s nationalist campaign.

“Actually what we are seeing is a somewhat mixed picture across Europe, and actually with many of Trump’s apostles being on the back foot,” Ash said.