iStock/Thinkstock(VIENNA) — Austria has elected a former Green Party leader to be its new president.
Alexander Van der Bellen defeated far-right Freedom Party candidate Norbert Hofer, who conceded within minutes of the first results being reported on Sunday, BBC News reports.
Van der Bellen said his victory was a vote for “freedom, equality and solidarity,” and re-affirmed his country’s desire not to close itself off from the rest of Europe.
He said Austria had sent a “signal of hope and change” to “all the capitals of the European Union”.
French President Francois Hollande said Austria had chosen “Europe and openness,” and European Council President Donald Tusk offered his “wholehearted congratulations.” Meanwhile, Marine Le Pen of France’s conservative Front National said the Freedom Party would be victorious in upcoming legislative elections.
The post of president is ceremonial in Austria, but the vote was widely viewed as an indication of how well populist candidates would fare in European elections following this year’s Brexit vote and the election of Donald Trump in the United States.
Sunday’s vote was the country’s second attempt to conduct the presidential runoff this year. An earlier vote in May was invalidated after vote irregularities.
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