Conservative parties

As Europeans elect a new European Parliament, Manfred Weber, the chairman of the European People's Party (EPP) and lead EPP candidate for the presidency of the European Commission, tells Kathimerini that tighter border security, combating terrorism, streamlining the European Union and boosting employment are among his top priorities if elected.

Chairman of the Hungarian Democratic Union of Romania (UDMR) Kelemen Hunor argues that it is in the interest of the Hungarian community to be strongly represented in the European Parliament (EP) and mentions that his political formation benefited, in the electoral campaign for the elections to the European Parliament, from the support of Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban, as well as that of

The conservative alliance of the Democratic Party (SDS) and People's Party (SLS), which has been leading in the opinion polls, argues that the EU as the most advanced society must initiate environmental-friendly technological solutions.

They also believe that more should be done to switch to clean energy sources and to a circular economy.

"If you count the total number of PiS voters, there might not be that many but they do show up to vote," said Bartek Lech, an independent EU affairs analyst in Szczecin, northwest Poland.

The opposition's strategy, he said, "is not to take votes away from PiS - this is almost impossible. It is to mobilise the undecided and those who otherwise would not vote."

Conservative opposition leader Kyriakos Mitsotakis on Tuesday welcomed the European People's Party (EPP) leader Manfred Weber to Athens, as the latter launched his bid for candidate for EU Commission President.

Hungary's ruling party counts on allies abroad to get out the vote in May's European elections, held in the wake of Fidesz's suspension from the European People's Party bloc.

Greek conservative opposition leader Kyriakos Mitsotakis on Thursday expressed his confidence that European voters will turn their back on "the lies and populism" in the upcoming European Parliament elections.

The List of Marjan Šarec (LMŠ) came in second in last year's parliamentary elections, lagging far behind the victorious Slovenian Democratic Party (SDS). Nevertheless, LMŠ has managed to form his government by being politically savvy. Two months later at the local elections, LMŠ failed to achieve better results.

Panayiotis Baltakos, an ultra-conservative senior official in the New Democracy government of Antonis Samaras, will stand as a candidate for Independent Greeks (ANEL) in the upcoming European Parliament elections, reports said Wednesday.
His candidacy was expected to be confirmed later Wednesday.

Conservative New Democracy leader Kyriakos Mitsotakis said that he will ask for the populist Fidesz party of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban to be ejected from the center-right European People's Party (EPP), to which they both belong, during comments at the Delphi Economic Forum, where he described Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras as an Orban equivalent.