Populism is a very complex phenomenon which has been recognised as a concept since the late 19th century. It originally came about as a social concept, and it became a part of contemporary politics in the periods of forming democratic political processes which followed. The contemporary understanding of the concept in the last two decades points towards the importance of populism as a political trend, which is considered to be a signal of a liberal democracy crisis. Considering the fact that the wide conceptual understanding populism offers often results in excessive and often incorrect interpretation in the media as well as the public and political discourse, the contemporary scientific literature tries to differentiate between various types and determinates of populism, which can all have the common denominator of ‘calling upon the people’ in the positive sense, and defying political elitism. Since it emerged in the USA, the concept of populism then spread to South America and Europe, not leaving out Croatia. As the phenomenon of populism adapts to the socio-political context in which it is formed, this research paper tries to address the issues of the emergence and intensity of populism in political rhetoric leading up to the elections to the European Parliament in 2019, which have proven to be the most important European elections thus far. In this time of globalisation and neoliberalism, where it is almost impossible to separate the national from the European, the pan-European from the global interest policy and economy, and in a time when populism is flourishing, the context of the European elections cannot be analysed without taking into consideration the relevant political events in United Kingdom (namely Brexit) and the rise of the European right-wing and Euro-sceptical politics (nationalism).