The leading conservative candidate in next month's European Parliament elections tells The Associated Press that he would like to see Britain stay in the European Union and warned populist parties in Europe that they would have no place in the EU's largest political bloc unless they shared its vision of an "integrated and more ambitious Europe."

Manfred Weber, the center-right European People's Party candidate and front-runner to replace Jean-Claude Juncker as president of the European Commission, visited Greece on Tuesday to launch his campaign for the May 23-26 elections across the EU's 28 nations.

Weber said he respected the result of Britain's 2016 referendum to the leave the EU. But he added "I personally would really enjoy and really would welcome if Great Britain would decide to stay."