The exit poll announced at 7 p.m., just after the polls for the European elections closed, gives a victory to New Democracy with a large difference from second-placed Syriza.

Specifically, New Democracy is polling between 28% and 32% (average 30%) and is expected to elect 7-8 MEPs.

The result of the Euro ballot is considered a significant victory for the government party, as the New Democracy may be below the 33.12% of the previous European elections, but the blue lead is the largest in the history of the European elections.

Government officials, however, acknowledge that despite the very high turnout recorded, which affects the entire political system, the popular verdict contained strong messages for the government that are interpreted as a mandate to speed up the government’s work and make changes in people and structures.

From the first data it appears that the 33% target is not being met, government sources admit, noting that “the first fact is that we should be concerned about the increased abstention rate”. They focus, however, on the large and clear margin they have over the second party, which they say is the largest ever recorded in European elections, referring to earlier times when it was 9 points in 2004, 8.8 in 1981 and 9.4 points in 2019.

Citizens, they note, have shown that they trust us but, at the same time, they have also sent a message that “they have strict demands to run even faster and correct mistakes and failures. It is a given that we need to listen even more carefully to citizens’ concerns and worries. We must respond to their demands and expectations.”

They point out that at the same time most of the governing parties are collapsing, with Germany and France being prime examples, while the common thread of the debate is the rise of the far right. Despite this, they argue, ND appears to be the largest centre-right party in Europe, and Kyriakos Mitsotakis’ 2019 to date marks the 5th consecutive victory for ND in a national poll.

In relation to the retreat from the 41% received by the ruling party a year ago in the parliamentary polls, they note that “we cannot compare national elections with European elections. It is a different process altogether, especially for a ruling party.

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As for SYRIZA, they say that every party has the right to set the bar they want, high or low. It seems that SYRIZA is approaching the figures of its electoral crash, which led Alexis Tsipras to resign. In fact, it is far below the 23% of the last European elections, when it won 6 seats in the European Parliament.

Moreover, during this election period, Mr Kasselakis has said everything and its opposite. He talked about 20%, about reversing correlations, about everything we can imagine. We are first by a wide margin and humbled. If they want to celebrate in SYRIZA, that’s their right.

On the increased abstention, they note that this phenomenon has been observed over time in European elections. All the more so since today’s European elections are the first since 2009 that did not coincide with local elections.