Fidias Panagiotou, a 24-year-old travel blogger from Cyprus, looks set to win a seat in the European Parliament on the first try.
According to preliminary partial results with around 25% of the votes counted, he achieved more than 18%. Although he only came in third place, election experts believe that he is still guaranteed a seat in the EU Parliament.
What Panagiotou stands for politically remained unclear during the election campaign and on election night.
First and second place were decided between the two established opponents in a neck-and-neck race: The conservative Democratic Rally (DISY) party came out on top with around 24%.
According to the figures, the left-wing Progressive Party of Working People (AKEL) party came in with 22.5%.
The extreme-right and xenophobic National Popular Front (ELAM), with around 11.5%, will probably have one of the six Cypriot seats in the European Palriament for the first time. It benefited above all from the recent relatively high number of refugees arriving in Cyprus.
The spotlight was on blogger Panagiotou, however, whom no-one had seriously expected to do well.
"It's a miracle," Panagiotou said in an initial interview. "It's the first time in European elections that someone has made it into parliament without the support of parties, but only with the help of followers on the internet."
Election observers attribute his popularity to protest voters in the country. Also, turnout was higher than at the last EU elections.
