1,195 candidates are standing for election on 40 different lists, according to the Supreme Civil and Criminal Court of Greece (Areios Pagos) who finalised the European Elections 2019 lists, on 12 May. Next Sunday (26 May) Greek voters will also participate in the first round of the regional and municipal elections, the second round of which will take place on 2 June.
Although the country has only 21 seats in the European Parliament, multiparty participation in Greece is not a surprise. Forty-three parties run in the previous EU elections in 2014 and twenty-seven in 2009.
Several new parties will run. Some of them for the first time.
Despite the neo-Nazi Golden Down remains the stronger party in the far-right camp, there are more than 10 far-right lists.
There is a strong representation of the Eurosceptic leftist parties as well.
3 parties are founded by former Ministers of the conservative New Democracy.
This time there are two lists representing minority communities, the Rainbow of the Slavic speaking minority and the other of the Turkic speaking Muslim minority.
However according to the latest polls only five parties will win seats in the European Parliament: the ruling Syriza (a GUE/NGL member), the conservative New Democracy (a member of EPP), the former Pasok of Andreas Papandreou now renamed KINAL, the communist party (KKE) and the neo-Nazi Golden Down.
The Greek electoral system has a 3% threshold for access to the European Parliament.
The elections will take place on May 26.
