Conservatives take decisive lead in Greek European vote

Greece's opposition New Democracy party took a commanding lead over the ruling leftist SYRIZA in European Parliament elections on Sunday, early results showed, in a blow to Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras who is facing general elections this year.
Exit polls and early results gave the Conservatives a lead of up to nine points over Tsipras SYRIZA, which has struggled to bounce back from austerity measures introduced as part of a third bailout, and a deeply unpopular agreement that resolved a long-running name dispute with North Macedonia.
Tsipras arrived at the Athens headquarters of his party on Sunday evening without making any comment.
Elected in 2015, the SYRIZA government's full term expires in October. One analyst said he did not expect Tsipras to call early elections.
"Five months, in politics, is a long time. Tsipras believes the economy will improve," said...