By Lefteris Papadimas ATHENS (Reuters) - Greece's main opposition party Syriza declared a victory for its anti-austerity message on Monday after its candidates fared strongly in big local election races in Athens and the surrounding region. In what may have been a foretaste of the upcoming European Parliament vote, the radical leftist party's candidates got most votes on Sunday in the race to govern the wider Athens region and for Athens mayor, knocking out Prime Minister Antonis Samaras's mayoral candidate. "This is an omen for political change because Greeks are extremely frustrated, disappointed and desperate because of austerity policies and are trying to find a way to express this frustration," Syriza leader Alexis Tsipras told La Repubblica newspaper in Italy where he was campaigning on Monday. "The polls show that Syriza will win the EU (Parliament) elections next Sunday and this will probably trigger political developments in the country but also send a strong message to Europe against austerity." Syriza, which is against Greece's European Union/International Monetary Fund bailout, has sought to cast the local and EU elections next week as a referendum on the ruling coalition's pro-bailout, austerity policies.
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