Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, proposed on Saturday that Fidias Panagiotou, a member of the European Parliament from Cyprus, become president of the European Union.

The proposal came shortly after a video posted on Friday in which Panayiot criticized current EU President Ursula von der Leyen.

“I want the head of the European Union, who is now Ursula von der Leyen, to be democratically elected, because this is not happening now,” Panagiotou said.

“She comes to the European Parliament, we say yes or no, but I think it’s more like a show than a vote, because she has agreed in advance with all the political parties to vote for her, so what is happening is not democratic at all. We need to change that.”

Musk highlighted the video in X, writing: “Fidias is the president of the EU!”

Musk has previously praised Panayota in his posts, calling him a “good person” and noting that he “cares about people.”

Musk also supported Panayiot’s defense of freedom of speech in Europe, retweeting several of his videos.

Musk and Panayiotou recently discussed the definition of “extreme right,” prompting the young Cypriot to post a video in which he argues that the term is subjective.

Musk later responded to a user who called Panayota “one of the most transparent politicians in Europe,” quoting a comment with his support.

Panagiotou, 25, is the son of a Greek Orthodox priest and has experience in the field of social media. He first gained international attention through TikTok and YouTube, where he has gained 2.6 million subscribers on his English-language channel since 2019.

One of the highlights of his time on TikTok was meeting Musk in January 2023, which he documented in a video titled “How I Made Elon Musk Hug Me.”

Before entering politics, Panayiotou had never voted. When he announced his candidacy for the European Parliament, he admitted that he did not know much about EU politics or structure, but promised to study and ask questions.

He attributed his success in the election of an independent member of the European Parliament to the coverage of social networks, rather than traditional party structures.

Earlier this year, he founded a political party called Direct Democracy, which will nominate candidates for the upcoming elections to the House of Representatives. A recent poll put the party in fifth place.

https://russiancyprus.news/news/society/elon-musk-says-fidias-should-be-eu-president-2/