Gianni Pittella

Gianni Pittella, the Socialists and Democrats (S&D) chief in the European Parliament has reacted to remarks by German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble earlier this week that Greece would have to leave the eurozone if it failed to meet its bailout commitments.

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.

EU Commissioner Pierre Moscovici said the Commission was still assessing the measures announced by Greek PM Alexis Tsipras, arriving at the preparatory meeting of the EU socialists’ group, Thursday in Brussels.

Head of the European Parliament socialists Gianni Pittella accused Germany and the IMF of trying to overthrow the democratically elected government of Greece. Speaking to ‘EurActiv.com’, Pittella expressed his outright opposition to measures foisted on Greece by the IMF and Germany in order to complete the country’s program review.

Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras met with PASOK leader Fofi Gennimata on Thursday to discuss about the refugee issue.

Greek PM Alexis Tsipras met with the head of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats in the European Parliament, Gianni Pittella on the sidelines of the EU emergency Summit on the migration crisis which starts in Brussels on Wednesday evening.