European elections: two YouTubers invade the European Parliament

© Unsplash/Christian Lue

This Sunday, June 9, 2024, the European elections took place. If they have completely shaken France and its political scene, things are not necessarily better among our European neighbors.

In Cyprus and Spain, two videographers known on YouTube were elected. Their ideas are far from the same, but Fidias Panayiotou and Alvise Pérez share their political inexperience despite their victory in the European elections. Who are they, and why these results are cause for concern ?

2 Youtubers in the European Parliament, 0 political experience

If the results of the European elections and then the announcement of the dissolution of the National Assembly are, rightly, occupying everyone's minds in France, the political scenes in Spain and Cyprus are also in turmoil. On the one hand, Cypriots elected a content creator with no experience or political affiliation. On the other hand, the Spanish trust a videographer who is establishing himself as the rising voice of the extreme right in Spain. In either case, there is reason to wonder.

Fidias Panayioutou is known for his excessive concepts on YouTube, which remind us of those of Mr Beast, the “king” of the platform at the moment. To entertain his 2.6 million subscribers, Fidias Panyiotou does not hesitate to “get wet” and accumulates controversies. The videographer of the concepts in which he tries to travel for free, which leads him to film himself cheating. But its popularity is not less. A few months ago, the content creator decided to motivate the younger generation to vote, and ran in the European elections “for a joke”. He has neither program nor real political affiliation.

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However, his “proposal” attracted many Internet users, who rushed to go to the polls this Sunday, June 9, 2024. While the 2019 European elections had a participation rate of 45%, it is very different this year since the latter rose to 58.86%. Cypriot voters have voted and decided to trust Fidias Panyiotou. The videographer came in third position, winning almost 20% of the votes. He will therefore be one of the 6 deputies who will represent Cyprus in the European Parliament. If he had no desire to be elected and this score is a surprise, these results show a real rejection of traditional parties.

What about he in Spain ? Alvise Pérez does not play in the same category as Fidias Panyiotou, although he has gained notoriety on YouTube and Instagram. With 304,000 subscribers on YouTube and almost double that on Instagram, the 34-year-old videographer obtained 4.5% of the votes in the European elections. This means that it has 3 seats in the European Parliament. Added to this, in particular, are the 6 seats obtained by the traditional Spanish far-right party… Unlike his Cypriot counterpart, Alvise Pérez knows very well what he wants, and he means “ blow up the system”. The videographer made anti-migrant, anti-feminist and anti-vax remarks on multiple occasions.

If they are different on many points, Fidias Panyiotou and Alvise Pérez illustrate a deep need for change for voters, even if it means choosing totally inexperienced deputies, but with a certain notoriety on social networks.

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