Socialists

Former Prime Minister and former leftist SYRIZA head Alexis Tsipras was elected as president of the Council of Europe's Sub-Committee on the Western Balkans with 80% of the vote.

Tsipras' opponent was conservative Zsolt Nemeth, a member of the Hungarian National Assembly.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez and his right-wing rival will each begin negotiations Monday to try to head off a fresh vote after an inconclusive snap election resulted in a hung parliament.

Defying polls that for months had written him off as defeated, the Socialist premier managed to curb the gains of the right-wing opposition.

Spanish voters go to the polls in a general election Sunday that could make Spain the latest European Union member to swing to the right.

Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez called the early election after his Spanish Socialist Workers' Party and its far-left partner, Unidas Podemos, took a beating in local and regional elections in May. Sánchez has been premier since 2018.

Today, the European Parliament will vote on a resolution for the accession of Bulgaria and Romania to the Schengen area. Against this background, the Romanian MEP from the European People's Party, Eugene Tomac, requested that the European Parliament file a case against the European Council before the Court of Justice of the EU for not allowing Romania and Bulgaria into Schengen.

The ministers of Economy, Health and Justice will be responsible for most of the crucial reforms that Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis wants to implement in his second four-year term.

The Mayor of Kukes, Safet Gjici, has resigned following publication of a tape showing him having sex in his office.

Albania's prosecution SPAK told BIRN that it had started a criminal proceeding about the case though it is not clear what the exact charges might be. Most likely he might face charges of "abuse of duty".

Local elections in Moldova's pro-Russian autonomous region of Gagauzia were won on Sunday by the Ilan Shor Party's candidate, Evghenia Gutul, according to results published by the Electoral Commission in Comrat, the central administrative city in the region.

Montenegro's newly-elected president Jakov Milatovic (centre) celebrates the electoral results in Podgorica. Photo: EPA-EFE/BORIS PEJOVIC

"A significant number of citizens in Cetinje do not approve of Milatovic's politics so he could have inconveniences during the inauguration," Adzic told a parliamentary defence and security committee hearing.

Single-seat constituencies will be an important battleground in Greece's May 21 parliamentary election, both main parties believe. On the basis of the latest census data, two regional units lost their second parliament seat, raising the number of single-seat constituencies from seven to nine.

Montenegro is likely to have a new president after the sociological institute CeMI predicted 60.1% of the vote for Jakov Milatovic, the former economy minister, over incumbent Milo Djukanovic.