Voters send clear message after ND win in EU elections

The comfortable lead (9.5 pct) secured by the Conservatives over ruling SYRIZA in the European Elections in Greece on Sunday pointed to a clear shift in the political direction selected by voters in the country.

The gap between ND and SYRIZA is the widest ever recorded between the first two contenders in the nine European Elections held in the country since 1981.

With 74.75 percent of the votes counted by 09:35 a.m. (EEST) on Monday, New Democracy had garnered 33.25 percent (which corresponds to 7 seats in the European Parliament), leftist SYRIZA had 23.74 percent (6 seats), centre-left Movement for Change (KINAL) had 7.51 percent (2 seats), the Communist Party KKE had 5.53 percent (2 seats), neo-Nazi Golden Dawn had 4.87 percent (2 seats), pro-Russian right-wing party Greek Solution with 4.12 percent (1 seat) and the Diem25 party of former finance minister Yanis Varoufakis had 3.05 percent of the vote (1 seat).

Other parties got a combined 17.92 percent of the vote.

Furthermore, the clear lead consolidated by candidates supported by ND in the country’s largest municipalities of Athens and Thessaloniki, as well as in the equivalent regional units of Attica and Central Macedonia in the first round of local elections, further pointed to the crushing defeat of the governing party.

Following the losses in the ballot box, Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras announced late Sunday night he will call early elections after the second round of local and regional elections next weekend.

A possible date for the general elections is June 30, according to information.