Evangelos Antonaros

Μain opposition SYRIZA announced on Friday the first batch of candidates who will compete in the preliminaries on April 14, with the aim of representing the leftist party in the upcoming European Parliament elections in June.

Figures close to former prime minister Costas Karamanlis have distanced themselves from recent controversial comments by ex-government spokesman Evangelos Antonaros, nipping in the bud any speculation about internal disputes within New Democracy.

Evangelos Antonaros, who served as government spokesman in the conservative administration of Costas Karamanlis, has been ejected from New Democracy, the party said in a statement.

The decision, announced late Saturday, came following comments made on social media by Antonaros about ND vice president Adonis Georgiadis and the Novartis bribery case.

Conservative New Democracy leader Vangelis Meimarakis met with the secretary of the ND political committee, Andreas Papamimikos, on Monday night. During their meeting it was decided to kick off procedures for the election of a new party leader as soon as possible.