Antonio Tajani

A video showing the newly elected President of the European Parliament, Antonio Tajani referring to FYROM as “Macedonia”, has caused a backlash in Greece. The Italian politician went a step further by dubbing the citizens of FYROM descendants of Alexander the Great during a visit in the country’s capital Skopje, in February in his capacity as European Commissioner.

Antonio Tajani of Italy was elected president of the European Parliament on Jan. 17, consolidating a conservative grip on key European Union institutions as the mainstream right and left struggle to unite against eurosceptics. 

Newly-elected European Parliament President Antonio Tajani has spoken with outgoing Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borisov, the latter has said.

On Facebook, Borisov has announced he called Tajani to congratulate him on his election on Tuesday.

The new EU Parliament head voiced his confidence GERB would win back Bulgarian citizens' trust, according to the Facebook post.

Key EPP MEP and former EU Commissioner Antonio Tajani is the new European Parliament President after a vote held on Tuesday.

It is official: The ally of Jean-Claude Juncker and Silvio Berlusconi, Antonio Tajani (EPP, IT) won Parliament’s presidential election with 351 votes in a final face-off with Gianni Pittella (S&D, IT), who secured 282 votes.

The outcome of the fourth ballot was:

Antonio Tajani (EPP, IT) 351
Gianni Pittella (S&D, IT) 282

Parliament’s President will be elected in a fourth and last ballot between the two best scoring candidates in the third ballot: Antonio Tajani (EPP, IT) and Gianni Pittella (S&D, IT). The vote will start at 20.00. The new President will be announced in plenary session at around 21.30.

European deputies did not manage to elect a new President of the European Parliament at the second round of voting as well.

During the second round of voting on the replacement of Martin Schulz in Strasbourg, the candidates of the left-wing and the right-wing ranked first again.

The European Parliament is electing its new President, as the current head of the body, Martin Schulz stepped down to compete for the leadership of the socialist party in Germany. The two major contenders in the EP elections are Antonio Tajani of the EPP, who was an MEP for 14 years before becoming European Commissioner in 2008.

The European Parliament faces a stormy election for a new president on Jan. 17 after a long-standing coalition of pro-EU parties collapsed just as the crisis-hit bloc confronts a wave of eurosceptic populism.

The three films competing for the 2015 LUX Prize were announced on in Rome by EP Vice-President Antonio Tajani and culture committee chair Silvia Costa, at the Venice Days press conference.