Austrian Far-Right Candidate Narrowly Loses Presidential Vote to Pro-EU Green Party Candidate
Alexander Van der Bellen, a 72-year-old economics professor and former Green Party leader, won Austria’s cliffhanger presidential election on Monday, defeating his far-right rival by the slimmest of margins and pledging to unite the divided country.
Austria had to wait almost 24 hours after polls closed on Sunday for the authorities to count almost 700,000 valid mail-in ballots. In the end, Mr. Van der Bellen won 50.3 percent of the vote, and his far-right rival, Norbert Hofer, 49.7 percent, a difference of just over 30,000 votes, the Interior Ministry said.
The narrowness of the victory also reflected the big strides into the mainstream the far right has made not only in Austria, but in much of Europe — from neighboring Hungary and Poland, where it already holds sway, to France and Germany, where rightist movements are polling strongly before national elections next year. The Freedom Party, which has for decades campaigned to keep out foreigners, saw its support soar, with opinion polls consistently showing that it would win a nationwide election.
In his first speech as president-elect, Mr. Van der Bellen emphasized his pro-European stance, welcoming foreign reporters in English, and promised Mr. Hofer’s voters that their grievances and views would be heard.
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/24/world/europe/austria-presidential-election.html?_r=0
Nice to see the "Trump of Austria" lose even though it was too close for comfort.