Austrian Election Could Produce First EU Far-Right Head Of State [View all]
Austria could elect the European Union's first far-right head of state on Sunday, with support for Freedom Party candidate Norbert Hofer buoyed by a migration crisis that has heightened fears about employment and security.
Opinion polls suggest the presidential race between Hofer and former Greens leader Alexander van der Bellen will be close-run. A far-right victory would resonate throughout the 28-member bloc where migration driven by conflict and poverty in the Middle East and elsewhere has become a major political issue.
The first polling stations opened early on Sunday. A projection will be published when the last close at 5 p.m. (1000 EDT), and the result is due to be announced after 7 p.m.
Austria took in 90,000 asylum seekers last year, more than 1 percent of its population, many of them shortly after it and neighboring Germany threw open their borders last autumn to a wave of migrants including refugees from Syria's civil war.
The government has since clamped down on immigration and asylum, but that about-face only fueled support for the far right, which was already capitalizing on widespread frustration with the country's two traditional parties of government.
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http://www.reuters.com/article/us-austria-election-idUSKCN0YC0RG?il=0
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