PARIS: Austria’s Sebastian Kurz, 33, is now the world’s youngest serving head of state after forming a coalition government which is due to present its program Thursday.
The chancellor dethrones Finland’s Sanna Marin who took office on December 10 at the age of 34.
Here are other sitting world leaders who took power in their thirties:
– Ukraine: Lawyer Oleksiy Goncharuk was named prime minister in August 2019, aged 35, by President Volodymyr Zelensky, himself only 41.
– Salvador: Conservative businessman Nayib Bukele was sworn in as president in June 2019 aged 37.
– Andorra: Former justice minister Xavier Espot Zamora became the head of government of the small territory between France and Spain in May 2019 aged 39.
– Costa Rica: Carlos Alvarado, a journalist and former labor minister, won elections to became president in May 2018 aged 38.
– New Zealand: Jacinda Ardern was 37 years old when she was sworn in as a prime minister in October 2017.
– Ireland: Leo Varadkar became Ireland’s youngest prime minister in June 2017 when he was aged 38.
– France: At the age of 39, one-time investment banker Emmanuel Macron became France’s youngest president in May 2017.
– Estonia: Centrist Juri Ratas was named prime minister in November 2016 aged 38. He took over from Taavi Roivas, who was 34 when he took office in 2014.
– Malta: Prime Minister Joseph Muscat took power in March 2013 at 39 years old.
Excluding democratic governments, other notable young leaders include North Korea’s Kim Jong Un, 35, and the emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani, 39. Bhutan’s King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck, 39, took power in 2006 when he was just 26.
Finland’s Sanna Marin took office on December 10 at the age of 34. She was the youngest head of a state until being replaced by Austria’s Sebastian Kurz. A Social Democrat, she has been a member of the Parliament of Finland since 2015. Image Credit: Reuters
Ukraine: Lawyer Oleksiy Goncharuk was named prime minister in August 2019, aged 35, by President Volodymyr Zelensky, himself only 41. Image Credit: Twitter/@Hromadske
Salvador: Conservative businessman Nayib Bukele (seen above with wife Gabriela) was sworn in as president in June 2019 aged 37. A popular millennial politician and businessman, he is the son of a Muslim father and a Christian mother and his religious beliefs were reportedly a controversial subject during the 2019 election. Image Credit: AP
Andorra: Former justice minister Xavier Espot Zamora became the head of government of the small territory between France and Spain in May 2019 aged 39. Image Credit: Instagram/Xavier Espot Zamora
Costa Rica: Carlos Alvarado, a journalist and former labour minister, won elections to became president in May 2018 aged 38. Image Credit: Twitter/Carlos Alvarado Quesada
New Zealand: Jacinda Ardern was 37 years old when she was sworn in as prime minister in October 2017. Ardern has become the most internationally recognized New Zealand leader ever since her elections and her popularity conquered new heights with her sensitive handling of the worst crisis in modern New Zealand history – the Christchurch Terror attack on mosques that killed 51 people. Image Credit: Reuters
Ireland: Leo Varadkar became Ireland’s youngest prime minister in June 2017 when he was aged 38. Varadkar is of Indian origin. His father Ashok Varadkar, a doctor, moved to the United Kingdom in the 1960s, from the village Varad in the coastal Sindhudurg district of Maharashtra. Image Credit: Bloomberg
France: At the age of 39, one-time investment banker Emmanuel Macron became France’s youngest president in May 2017. Macron is married to Brigitte Trogneux,24 years his senior, who was a teacher in his high school, La Providence High School in Amiens. Image Credit: REUTERS
Estonia: Centrist Juri Ratas was named prime minister in November 2016 aged 38. He took over from Taavi Roivas, who was 34 when he took office in 2014. He is the son of a Centrist Party politician. During his tenure, the national budget of Estonia went into deficit after years of being in surplus, attracting widespread criticism. Image Credit: Twitter/@ratasjuri
Malta: Prime Minister Joseph Muscat took power in March 2013 at 39 years old. In 2016, two of Muscat’s close collaborators were implicated in the Panama Papers, holding two companies in that jurisdiction. However, a detailed inquiry failed to find any evidence linking the Prime Minister and his wife to the Panama company. Image Credit: AP
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