A Syriza MEP says he hopes the party can 'move forward' after they pulled off a second election victory in a year.

Alexis Tsipras' will remain as Greek prime minister after his anti-austerity party took more than one-third of the vote - on 35.5%.

New Democracy came in second place, with a 28.1% share.

It is a decisive victory, as opinion polls conducted on Friday had put Mr Tsipras and Vangelis Meimarakis, his conservative rival, just half a percentage point apart.

However, Syriza is still six seats short of an overall majority, meaning the left-wing party has to form a coalition with the Independent Greeks – a right-wing group with 10 seats.

The result means a high-risk gamble by Mr Tsipras has paid off.

After a controversial €86bn bailout deal was finalised with EU creditors three weeks ago, he resigned as prime minister, triggering a snap election.

As the package includes painful austerity measures, something Mr Tsipras had pledged to avoid back in January, he had faced criticism for breaking promises and making a significant U-turn by election campaign rivals.

Some Syriza ministers had also defected to form a new anti-bailout party - but their Popular Unity group fell short of the 3% threshold required to send MPs to parliament.

Mr Tsipras has publicly said he disagrees with the austerity measures to be implemented, but maintains that Greece would have faced bankruptcy and ejection from the Euro without it.

Mr Tsipras will have to face a number of challenges over the coming months, which will include meeting the terms of the latest bailout package.

Meanwhile, the head of the Eurozone group of finance ministers, Jeroen Dijsselbloem, has congratulated Mr Tsipras, adding that he was "looking forward to continuing the reform process".

Syriza MEP Professor Kostas Chrysogonos told Newstalk Lunchtime this latest result in an important success for the party.