‘I don’t know how this happened,’ says elderly MEP elected with far-right party
A 76-year-old woman, who made headlines on Sunday after she was elected in the European Parliament with nationalist party Elliniki Lysi (Greek Solution), told journalists she is surprised by her win.
Galato Alexandraki, a retired cattle farmer and butcher from Evros, near the Turkey border, received 51,458 votes.
“I don’t know how this happened,” she exclaimed in her first TV interview with a local channel in Evros. “I am happy. I can thank everyone who voted for me. That’s all, I have nothing else to say. I am shocked because I didn’t expect it.”
Alexandraki had not made any public appearances on conventional or social media prior to the elections. Her name was first on the party’s European ticket.
She declined to answer questions about whether she will attend the European Parliament in Brussels and said she will not be making any further comments in the coming days.
