This article is from the source 'rtcom' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.rt.com/news/369162-austrian-presidential-election-results/
The article has changed 3 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
| Version 0 | Version 1 |
|---|---|
| Austrian presidential election: Left-leaning Van der Bellen leads, right-wing Hofer concedes defeat | |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| The first official results released shortly after polls closed in Austria indicate that left-leaning candidate Alexander Van der Bellen is winning the re-run presidential election with 53.5 percent of the vote. Right-wing Norbert Hofer has 46.4 percent. | The first official results released shortly after polls closed in Austria indicate that left-leaning candidate Alexander Van der Bellen is winning the re-run presidential election with 53.5 percent of the vote. Right-wing Norbert Hofer has 46.4 percent. |
| Only 58 percent of total votes has been counted so far, but experts say the current results are unlikely to change. | Only 58 percent of total votes has been counted so far, but experts say the current results are unlikely to change. |
| Hofer, a member of the right-wing Freedom Party (FPO), has already conceded defeat and congratulated his rival on his election victory. | |
| “I congratulate Alexander Van der Bellen on his success and call on all Austrians to stick together and to work together,” he wrote in a Facebook post, in which he also expressed gratitude to his supporters. | “I congratulate Alexander Van der Bellen on his success and call on all Austrians to stick together and to work together,” he wrote in a Facebook post, in which he also expressed gratitude to his supporters. |
| “I thank you [for] … your great support and I am endlessly sorry that I did not make it,” he wrote. | “I thank you [for] … your great support and I am endlessly sorry that I did not make it,” he wrote. |
| Hofer’s campaign manager, Herbert Kickl, also conceded the right-wing candidate’s defeat in light of the preliminary results. | |
| “In this case the establishment – which pitched in once again to block, to stonewall, and to prevent renewal – has won,” he told Austrian broadcaster ORF. | |
| Van der Bellen, an economics professor, ran for president as an independent candidate, although he is a former leader of the increasingly popular Green Party. During the campaign, he described himself as the "lesser evil.” | |
| Norbert Hofer focused his election campaign on Austria's EU membership and immigration and advocated a ban on "economic migrants." He argued that they allegedly "destroy the social system,” and claimed that Austria had accepted one of the largest numbers of refugees per capita during the ongoing crisis. | |
| Hofer has widely been described as ‘far-right’ – a label he has rejected, insisting that he “does not like extremists.” | |
| In May, EU Parliament president Martin Schulz issued an official warning against Austria electing the Freedom Party candidate as its new head of state. |