Will Europe’s Political Vacuum Pull in a New Strongman?

“I don’t want to be rude … but, really, you have the charisma of a damp rag and the appearance of a low-grade bank clerk.” Nigel Farage’s insult to the first European Council president, Herman Van Rompuy, has summed up the state of Europe’s leadership ever since. Europe’s national leaders don’t want to be bossed around by some kind of European super-president, so they generally give the job to a charmless nonentity.

The absence of a strong presence at the top of Europe has been a problem since Henry Kissinger’s famous quip: “Who do I call if I want to call Europe?” But now Europe has a new leadership void. No nation has a strong leader. Consider:

• German Chancellor Friedrich Merz is setting new records for the lowest-ever approval rating of a German chancellor. An October 2 poll by public broadcaster ard found that only 10 percent of Germans were satisfied with him. He leads a divided coalition with a party from the opposite side of the political spectrum, while the upstart Alternative für Deutschland is hoovering up votes.
• French President Emmanuel Macron has lost the support of Parliament, and his term in office ends next April. More than a couple dozen people have declared themselves candidates to replace him, but only the far left and far right have any real momentum.
• The Netherlands is governed by a three-way minority coalition of two center-right parties and one center-left party. Even when they agree on something, they lack the votes to get it through parliament.
• Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has struggled for years to keep his left-wing minority coalition from collapsing. He finally ran out of road on October 5, when he called for snap elections to be held on November 29.
• Poland’s president and prime minister hail from opposite parties. They are bogged down in a power battle, with the president vetoing the most important parts of what Parliament passes.
• Belgium is perhaps the most absurd of all, governed by a five-party coalition that includes social democrats, center-right parties and Flemish separatists.

Not only do all these countries lack stronger leadership, but there also seems to be no way for them to get it. They’re almost all afflicted by strikes and protests.

With all of Europe governed by damp rags, is there a new opportunity at the top?

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen is not Van Rompuy’s successor but heads another European presidency. Again, this is by design: National leaders set up multiple competing presidencies in the European Union to prevent one office from becoming too powerful. But von der Leyen is seizing the opportunity. Euronews wrote this summer:

Von der Leyen’s expansive clout has raised eyebrows across capitals, prompting occasional rebukes of “overreach” and “power grab,” even though she has often been encouraged by EU leaders to take the lead on global crises.

“Today, the Commission is trying to take control. That’s not in line with the [EU] treaty,” Charles Michel, former president of the European Council, told the Brussels Times in April. “There is a super-authoritarian governance.”

Part of the reason she’s gotten away with it is that no national leader is strong enough to put her back in her box.

But von der Leyen lacks the political nous to become too strong. She got the job of European Commission president as a consolation prize after German Chancellor Angela Merkel decided she wasn’t qualified to be her successor.

But nature abhors a vacuum, and now a vacuum exists not only at the top of Europe but in almost every major European country as well.

The one exception to the rule also points to the way out. Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni led the successor party to Benito Mussolini’s fascists to victory in 2022. Since then, thanks largely to a divided opposition, she has kept a tight hold on Italian politics.

So far she has pulled off an impressive balancing act, keeping her fringe-right supporters mostly happy while also attracting mainstream support.

For years we’ve had cover articles about the rise of a strong leader to dominate Europe. Europe’s need for such a strongman is clearer than ever.

“The stark reality is, without such a man in charge, Europe will never become the superpower it wants to be!” wrote Trumpet editor in chief Gerald Flurry in one article. “As much as they talk about building a unified military, the EU as currently constituted cannot rise to the intensifying challenges of a post-American world!”

Mr. Flurry asked, “How could this happen in the sophisticated nations of Europe?” He continued:

Europeans are facing great crises, including economic instability, terrorism and illegal immigration, rising threats from Asia. In times of crisis, people are less concerned about democratic norms. They need strong leadership. That has to come from Germany, which dominates and even domineers Europe today. It is the powerhouse.

Many Bible prophecies describe this coming superpower. Daniel 8 and 11 describe the rise of a strongman who will invade the Holy Land and try to stamp out true religion. Jesus Christ Himself said this is not simply ancient history but a future event His followers should watch for (Matthew 24:15).

Revelation 17 describes this same leader in different terms. It says that 10 kings will give their strength and power to his empire (verses 12-13). Europe is already rising as a new form of multinational empire. It will soon shrink down to 10 nations led by one strongman.

This leader must appear soon, or Europe will be lost. To learn more about what the Bible says about his rise, read our Trends article “Why the Trumpet Watches the Rise of a German Strongman.”