Elon Musk, the chief executive of Tesla and SpaceX, proposed on Saturday that Cyprus MEP Fidias Panayiotou should become president of the European Union.

The suggestion came shortly after a video posted on Friday, in which Panayiotou criticised the 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 that is not happening now,” Panayiotou said.

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

Musk highlighted the video on X, writing: “Fidias for President of the EU!”

He has praised Panayiotou in earlier posts, calling him “a good man” and noting that he “cares about the people.” 

Musk has also endorsed Panayiotou’s advocacy for free speech in Europe, retweeting several of his videos.

Recently, Musk and Panayiotou discussed the definition of “far right,” which prompted the young Cypriot to post a video arguing that the term is subjective.

Musk later replied to a user describing Panayiotou as “one of the most transparent politicians in Europe,” quote-tweeting the comment with his endorsement.

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

One of the highlights of his time as a TikToker was a high-profile meeting with Musk in January 2023, which he documented in a video titled How I Forced Elon Musk To Hug Me.

Before entering politics, Panayiotou had never voted. When he announced his candidacy for the European Parliament, he admitted he knew little about politics or EU structures but promised to learn and ask questions.

He credited his election as an independent MEP to the reach of social media rather than traditional party structures.

Earlier this year he launched a political party called Direct Democracy which will put forward candidates in the forthcoming House elections. A recent poll put the party in fifth place.