The killing of American conservative influencer Charlie Kirk sparked a wave of condemnation from European leaders across the political spectrum overnight.
European Parliament President Roberta Metsola, from the center-right European People’s Party, said she was “shocked at the horrific assassination.”
“Our thoughts and prayers are with his wife and young children — who were the bedrock of his life. May they find strength and may he rest in peace,” Metsola wrote in a post on X.
The 31-year-old Kirk — a close ally of U.S. President Donald Trump — was shot dead Wednesday while speaking at a college campus in Utah in an apparent act of political violence. He rose to fame as one of the most influential conservative activists since Trump’s initial ascension to office, playing a key role in mobilizing young people to vote for him.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, from the center-left Labour Party, rebuked political violence and said his thoughts are with Kirk’s loved ones.
“It is heartbreaking that a young family has been robbed of a father and a husband. We must all be free to debate openly and freely without fear — there can be no justification for political violence,” Starmer said.
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, who leads the right-wing Brothers of Italy, expressed her condolences to Kirk’s family, calling the murder “a deep wound for democracy.”
“I am shocked by the news of the killing of Charlie Kirk, a young and followed Republican activist. An atrocious murder, a deep wound for democracy and for those who believe in freedom. My condolences to his family, to his loved ones, and to the American conservative community,” she said.
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