AFP, BRUSSELSThe tussle for top EU jobs got under way yesterday after European Parliament elections delivered a fragmented result, with gains for euroskeptic and green parties as the traditional mainstream groups took a hit. There were big wins for the Greens, who posted double-digit scores across Europe’s biggest countries, and the Liberals, with both parties likely to play a major role in any future parliamentary coalition. These jobs will be picked by the national leaders of EU governments, with the first formal clash set for today, when they meet for a summit dinner in Brussels. Merkel has said she would back Manfred Weber, the lead candidate of the center-right European People’s Party, which suffered significant losses, but remained parliament’s biggest bloc with 180 seats. In Greece, Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras has called early elections after a thumping for his SYRIZA party.

Source: Taipei Times May 27, 2019 15:56 UTC