Left-wing populism

Near complete results in Greece show the governing center-right New Democracy party comfortably ahead in the EU Parliamentary election with just under 28% of the vote, but with a poorer showing than the 33% it won in the previous election which the party leadership had set as a bar for Sunday's poll.

Main opposition SYRIZA leader Stefanos Kasselakis on Sunday appeared optimistic, despite the fact that his party fell short of the target set before the European elections.

"We managed to shrink the gap [from New Democracy party] from 23% to 13%," he said in his first statements on the electoral result outside of the party's headquarters.

Results from Sunday's ballots show that none of the big three parties have reached their stated goals, although all may try to spin a positive narrative from them.

What is beyond dispute is the very low turnout: at nearly 93% of precincts reporting, it is currently 40.6%, some 18 percentage points below that of the last European election, in May 2019 (58.69%).

As they argue, "SYRIZA is confirmed as the leading force of the broader centre-left party"

The messages are interpreted by the ruling party as a mandate to accelerate the government's work and make changes to persons and structures - "It is in fact far below the 23% of the last European elections", they say for SYRIZA

A large crowd awaited the SYRIZA president outside the polling station in Ekali, where he cast his vote

Main opposition SYRIZA leader Stefanos Kasselakis called on citizens to take control of their lives by participating in the European elections, after casting his vote on Sunday at an elementary school in the northern Athens suburb of Ekali.

The stakes of Sunday's European elections are high for Greece's political parties - each for their own reasons - as the results will shape the country's political landscape the day after. 

A poll released on Friday showed the ruling New Democracy (ND) leading main opposition SYRIZA by 13.5 points, two days before the June 9 European elections. 

Marginal losses for SYRIZA after the Source of Wealth Kasselakis - It pushed its voters to Pleusi Eleftherias and Nea Aristerias