European Parliament

By Raf Casert

BRUSSELS — European Union leaders on Tuesday sought a way to bounce back from the weekend's landmark elections that saw a partly hostile and largely apathetic public question their project of closer cooperation as never before.

Andreas Loverdos, a former minister and Socialist heavyweight, on Tuesday said he intends to return to the fold of PASOK after leaving the party to form his own movement, RIKKSY, in December 2012, despite statements last year flatly rejecting the idea.

Every fourth voter in the European elections in Bulgaria used their right of preferential vote, shows data of the Central Electoral Commission (CEC). 

This was the first time the Bulgarians voters had the actual right to select a candidate who is further down on the party or coalition ballot list.  

Crin Antonescu, head of Romania's main opposition National Liberal Party, PNL, on Monday announced that he would resign from his post after the party failed to win over voters in last weekend's European Parliament elections.

The party vice-presidents also resigned from their positions.

Belgian Prime Minister Elio di Ruppo submitted on Monday the resignation of his cabinet to King Phillippe.

Di Ruppo, whose government will have a caretaker capacity until a new administration is formed, saw his Socialists being defeated by the Flemish nationalist and separatist party at the general polls held alongside European elections Sunday, as BusinessWeek reported.

Bulgaria's opposition GERB party, led by Boiko Borisov, received 30.40 per cent of the votes in European Parliamentary elections in the country, with the ruling BSP trailing well behind on 18.94 per cent.

Application for EU money in August, "economy to get worse"

BELGRADE -- Serbia's application for resources from the EU Solidarity Fund should be submitted by the beginning of August, the Serbian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.

Greek government spokesman Simos Kedikoglou on Tuesday said the coalition has "absolutely no intention" of calling early elections following calls for snap polls from opposition SYRIZA in the wake of the leftist party's electoral victory in Sunday's elections for local government and European Parliament.

Center-right GERB has kept its 11-percent lead on the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP) in the European elections as 100% of the voting protocols have been processed.

GERB has received 30.40% of Sunday's votes, with the ruling BSP trailing second as it gained 18.94%.

The European Union will deploy over 60 observers to monitor the national elections in Kosovo on June 8, while other international missions are planning to send more monitors.