Portugal’s prime minister António Costa has been placed 9th on a list of 28 European personalities set to change their countries and Europe in 2018.
Hailed for being a “champion of change”, Politico website has also marked him out as a rarity: a “Successful Leftist” – a leader who snatched power from the jaws of election defeat and steered his debt-laden country towards economic recovery.
Coming in the same week that his financial right-hand scooped the presidency of the Eurogroup Costa’s ‘accolade’ puts renewed sheen on his government’s glow.
Says Politico, “after guiding his party to a record victory in October’s municipal elections, the Portuguese prime minister heads into the new year hoping to do even better.
“Although his popularity was dented by criticism of the government’s handling of deadly forest fires in June and October, Costa’s supporters hope Portugal’s fast-paced economic recovery will quickly restore the PM’s standing.
Describing the PM as a “tough political streetfighter behind a ready campaign smile”, Politico stresses that his objective for 2018 will be to continue his “economic balancing act” and work towards securing an absolute majority in the elections of 2019.
Costa’s slot comes behind personalities like Michael Gove (ranked number 2 as one of the “true believers” in Brexit) and Christian Lindner (the leader of Germany’s Free Democrats that have blasted onto the “moribund political landscape” casting a shadow over German Chancellor Angela Merkel) – and ‘one step ahead’ of Belgium’s Guy Verhofstadt, the so-called Liberal Lion credited with being the UK’s “worst nightmare” in tortuous Brexit negotiations.
For the full line up, see: https://www.politico.eu/list/politico-28-2018-ranking/
Photo: https://twitter.com/antoniocostapm
