European Parliament

In the past Greece has been represented in the European Parliament by many capable and respectable politicians who have made a name for themselves in politics, business and other areas.

An assault rifle believed to have been used in an attack on the headquarters of the junior coalition partner PASOK a few hours before voting began in European Parliament elections on Sunday may have jammed, causing less damage than the perpetrators had intended, police sources indicated on Monday.

The extreme-right Golden Dawn appears to have gained on average double the support at polling stations used by police serving in the capital who cannot go home to vote.

Local and regional elections conducted alongside European Parliament polls on Sunday produced a mixed picture, with conservative New Democracy prevailing in most of Greece’s 13 regions but leftist SYRIZA clinching the key governorship of Attica, which is home to about a third of Greeks.

Prime Minister Antonis Samaras and his coalition partner Evangelos Venizelos are said to be planning a bold reshuffle to refresh the government and show that they have heeded the message sent in European Parliament elections on Sunday when leftist SYRIZA achieved a historic victory.

BELGRADE - Serbia's application for resources from the EU Solidarity Fund should be submitted by the beginning of August, following which the Council and the European Parliament will start the process for granting aid, it was said at Monday’s meeting of Serbia’s Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic with Head of the EU Delegation to Serbia Michael Davenport and ambassadors of EU member states.

In a surprising turn, Sergey Stanishev, leader of the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP), may lose the MEP seat to 28-year-old Momchil Nekov, who is 15th on the election list.

Nekov is believed to have received a huge portion of the preference vote in the European Parliament elections on Sunday due to a misunderstanding.

The ABV Movement (Alternative for Bulgarian Revival) of former two-term President Georgi Parvanov (2002-2012) will become a party.

Parvanov announced Monday that he felt guilty about the dissatisfying performance of the party at the European Parliament elections and had requested a vote of confidence by the governing body of the formation.

Bulgarian Kostadinka Kuneva is largely expected to enter the European Parliament as MEP from left-wing party Syriza.

The Bulgarian trade unionist, who became a victim of an acid attack in Athens in December 2008, will be one of the six MEPs of Syriza.

Independent Greeks leader Panos Kammenos said on Monday that he would call a party congress to discuss his anti-austerity grouping’s poor showing in the European Parliament elections and forge alliances with other parties.