Center-right "New Democracy" wins the elections in Greece

The center-right New Democracy party won the early parliamentary elections in Greece on June 25. It won 40.56% and 158 seats in the 300-seat parliament, enough for an independent government. Party leader Kyriakos Mitsotakis was sworn in as prime minister to rule the country for a second consecutive term for the next 4 years.

Eight parties enter the new Greek parliament. A disastrous result of 17.48% and 47 seats for the left-wing SYRIZA led to the resignation of its chairman Alexis Tsipras. The entry into parliament of 13 MPs from the far-right group Spartans, linked to the banned neo-Nazi Golden Dawn, caused alarm. Mostly young people under 30 voted for the "Spartans". Another nationalist party - "Greek Solution" won 12 seats. The left Eurosceptic party "Course of Freedom" entered the parliament with the fewest number of MPs.

In the previous early parliamentary elections on May 21 of this year New Democracy won again, but fell short of several seats for independent government. The June elections were held under new rules, according to which the winning party gets additional seats.

Edi Rama calls de-escalation of tensions in Northern Kosovo

Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama has once again called for the fastest possible calming of the situation in Northern Kosovo. According to him, if the tension increases, there is a real danger of creating “a small Donbas" in the middle of Europe, BTA reported. Rama said this in Brussels at a joint press conference with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, the prime ministers of the Netherlands, Belgium and Norway and the presidents of Romania, Poland and Lithuania. Rama expressed hope that de-escalation will be achieved with the help of the US and the EU. "We cannot watch our region, which has achieved so much, be torn apart," Rama said. Tensions escalated after ethnic Albanian mayors took office in four districts with predominant Serb population following April elections in which Serbs refused to participate. In a video address from June 29, Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti proposed holding early local elections in the four municipalities if at least 20 percent of those eligible to vote in the municipalities supported a petition for the vote.

The World Bank provides assistance of 1 billion USD to Turkey for reconstruction after the earthquake

The World Bank has approved financing in the amount of one billion US dollars for Turkey for reconstruction in the areas affected by the severe earthquakes of February this year, which claimed the lives of more than 50,000 people, the Turkish television channel NTV has reported. The funds should support the restoration of health services, of damaged and destroyed municipal infrastructure, the construction of housing in rural areas, the World Bank said and added that this is the largest single financial package that the World Bank has ever provided to Turkey. In his Eid al-Adha message, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan recalled his promise that the government would build 650,000 houses and hand over 319,000 of them to citizens within a year, and said it would be fulfilled.

Romania puts cap on markup for certain food products

In order to cope with the rise in food prices, Romania is introducing a cap on markups set by food processing companies, distributors and retailers. The cap will be 20%, 5%, and 20%, respectively. The measure covers bread, fresh milk, yogurt, corn flour, butter, eggs, meat and vegetables. "The reduction of prices must happen along the entire chain, from the producer to the final seller," Romania's Finance Minister Marcel Bolos said, quoted by Radio Romania. This measure is expected to lead to a significant reduction in the price of basic food products. In three months, an analysis will be done, in order to see the effect of the measure.

Compiled by: Miglena Ivanova

English: Al. Markov

Photos: EPA/BGNES, Facebook/ Marcel Boloș