Gathering 102 out of 184 votes cast, Hannes Swoboda (Austria) was elected, on 17 January, leader of the Socialists and Democrats (S&D) group in the European Parliament. He replaces Martin Schulz, freshly elected EP president. His opponents Catherine Trautmann (France) and Stephen Hughes (UK) managed to get 45 and 37 votes, respectively. Swoboda’s first priority is to address the economic crisis and “the unwillingness of heads of government – especially [German Chancellor Angela] Merkel and [French President Nicolas] Sarkozy – to solve the issue in a communitarian way”. “To only look to austerity is absolutely politically wrong, economically wrong and socially wrong,” added the new S&D leader. Then, Swoboda intends to tackle the “unacceptable” move back to “authoritarian structures” taking place in Hungary. “Viktor Orbán is betraying his people, he is leading his people into isolation,” said the Austrian MEP. Finally, Swoboda seeks to involve all political partners in the European process to make sure “Europe is not happening only in Brussels and Strasbourg”.