Greek Election Outcome Spells Relief For Europe

Greece’s New Democracy party leader Antonis Samaras declared a victory for all of Europe Sunday night, once it was clear that his pro-austerity party had won the very tense election. With official results still pending, New Democracy was poised to take almost 30 percent of the popular vote.

Alexis Tsipras, leader of the Coalition of the Radical Left, or Syriza, which had been head-to-head with New Democracy in the polls, admitted defeat and said that his party now wishes to form a strong opposition. Syriza came in second at just shy of 27 percent.

Negotiations will now begin to form a coalition government, but this may prove complicated. The third biggest party, socialist PASOK, has said they will only join a coalition that includes Syriza. PASOK, which until the May election had always been, along with New Democracy, one of the two biggest parties in Greece, ended with 12.3 percent of the vote.

The fourth biggest party, the right-wing Independent Greeks, has also made statements to the effect that they would like to support a government that condemns the European bailout agreements, which would rule out New Democracy.

This means that a third round of elections is still a real possibility. After the May 6 election, it proved impossible for any combination of the seven parties in Parliament to form a coalition triggering Sunday’s election less than six weeks later.

The pressure is now on New Democracy to form a government and avoid what would be a highly unpopular outcome in Greece and internationally.

Belaras Periklis, 32, who lives in the village of Limni on Evia Island, hopes the parties will act responsibly and compromise in order to form a coalition. “A third election is not good for Greece,” he said.

The European Union leadership saluted Greek voters who are facing sacrifices to build their economy and encouraged politicians to come together quickly.

“We are hopeful that the election results will allow a government to be formed quickly,” said EU President Herman Van Rompuy and European Commission President José Manuel Barroso in a joint statement.

Their brief statement also mentioned the importance of adhering to the terms of the second bailout agreement.

The White House press secretary sent a similar message expressing very similar sentiments and reiterating President Obama’s interest in Greece remaining in the eurozone.

If New Democracy manages to form a coalition in this round, as it failed to do after the May 6 election, this would mean that the rest of the Europe got the outcome it had hoped for.

Greek voters were aware of the international importance of these elections. Business owner George Tsampanis, also from Limni, called the elections one of the most important in the country’s history.

“I know the whole world is following the news about Greece a lot, and I understand their anxiety,” he said. .

With reporting by Neli Magdalini Sfigopoulou in Limni, Greece

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