Alexis Tsipras was welcomed by supporters of his candidacy for EC president warmly. In Bologna, Italy, the president of SYRIZA spoke during the rally of his political combination, thus completing his election tour as presidential candidate to the European Commission.

Alexis Tsipras enthusiastically sang along the “Bella Ciao” resistance song with the crowd in Maggiore square, keeping the beat with applause and periodically interrupting his singing efforts to embrace his comrades, many of whom are candidates with “L’Altra Europe con Tsipras”.

Prior to surprising everyone with his unique singing performance, Alexis Tsipras had picked up the microphone once more, greeting the crowd in Italian, which the attending citizens seemed to love.

Cheering frenzy also ensued after he stated that “with the flags of L’Altra Europe con Tsipras, we will be able to return Bologna to red colour”.

Starting his speech, he referred to the results of the first round of local Greek elections, underlining a “message of hope” and predicted that next Sunday, “the SYRIZA party will be elected in power”.

He talked about the Left that unites people, who are divided by governments  and called for a general democratic movement, requesting that voters vote for a Europe that will no longer be in the hands of bankers, but in the hands of citizens who will choose a Europe without austerity measures. He had stated before that “austerity is not a remedy for the crisis, but only serves the profits of banks”.

He committed to holding a European conference to delete much of the debt, especially in the countries of Southern Europe, and, sending a message to his fellow EC presidential candidate, Martin Schultz, he said: “We are the only Leftists that Merkel finds scary”.

The raucous applause intensified, however, when Alexis Tsipras mentioned the Golden Dawn party in correlation with Italian far-right organizations Forza Nuova and CasaPound, and underlined that a democratic Europe has no place for these groups.

He did not neglect to mention the head of the Five Star Movement, Beppe Grillo, for whom he stated that after the elections he will embrace Merkel, since his “protest is sterile”.

Additionally, he warned that we find ourselves in a crossroads, since there are those who wish for a different Europe and those who want to continue with the current scheme of things, the latter of which is destined to fail.

For this reason, he urged all citizens to cast their ballots next Sunday and provide a “pleasant surprise”.

After Torino and Milan, Bologna was the third and final stop of his tour. Despite the gloomy forecasts of a low turnout, Maggiore square of traditionally Leftist Bologna was filled with SYRIZA supporters.