Total of 49 parties register for EU elections

A total of 49 Greek parties are registered to run in the European Parliament elections on May 26, up from 43 in 2014. The final number may be lower, however, as parties have to pay a 5,000-euro fee to participate. MEP candidates pay 500 euros.

According to an MRB poll for Star TV released Thursday, New Democracy is leading SYRIZA in the race by 7.4 points. The conservatives polled at 30.2 percent against the ruling leftists' 22.8 percent. The center-left Movement for Change alliance was on third place with 6.5 percent.
Greece has 21 seats in the 705-seat assembly. The Greek threshold for entering EU Parliament is 3 percent.

Greeks living abroad vote a day earlier, on May 25.

Voting in European Parliament elections is compulsory in Greece as well as Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus and Luxembourg.