In Austrian Election, Far-Right Candidate Is Deadlocked With Rival - The New York Times - 0 views
-
The election for president of Austria turned into a cliffhanger on Sunday, with a former Green Party leader battling a populist who is seeking to become the first far-right politician to be elected head of state in Europe since 1945.
-
With all votes cast on Sunday counted, the race between Norbert Hofer, 45, of the far-right Freedom Party, and Alexander Van der Bellen, a 72-year-old economist, was too close to call. The outcome will be determined by mail-in votes.
-
“This signifies the split of the country, no doubt about it,” said Hans Rauscher, a centrist columnist for the newspaper Der Standard. “You can work at changing that, but it is, of course, the result of an anti-establishment mood.”
- ...2 more annotations...
-
Mr. Van der Bellen encouraged supporters to get colleagues, friends and family out for what he said was a vote with huge implications for Austria’s future. He urged voters to support “an open, Europe-friendly, Europe-conscious Austria.”
-
Mr. Hofer, by contrast, addressed thousands of supporters at a boisterous two-hour rally in one of his party’s Vienna strongholds. He stressed that he welcomed foreigners and migrants to Austria, but only if they obeyed its laws.