Austrian presidential election

Austrian Chancellor and leader of the Austrian People's Party, Sebastian Kurz, announced the end of the coalition government with the Freedom Party of Austria after the resignation of Vice Chancellor Heinz-Christian Strache, announced by world agencies.

Austrians are voting in a general election in which the frontrunner, conservative People's Party (ÖVP) leader Sebastian Kurz, is just 31.

The far-right Freedom Party (FPÖ) and Social Democrats are competing for second place, opinion polls suggest.

The Social Democrats led the outgoing coalition with the ÖVP.

BELGRADE - In a long and hard-fought election battle which dragged on months longer than normal, and which drew significant international interest, the far-right candidate, Norbert Hofer, appears to have lost his bid to be president, according to exit polls.

Austrian voters roundly rejected on Dec. 4 a candidate vying to become the first freely elected far-right head of state in Europe since World War Two, halting at least temporarily the wave of populism sweeping Western democracies. 

Austria's far-right presidential candidate was soundly defeated on Dec. 4, confounding forecasts of a tight election in which he would ride a wave of populism sweeping the West.

Austria’s far-right Freedom Party presidential candidate, Norbert Hofer, conceded defeat minutes after poll projections were released, dashing his hopes of becoming the European Union’s first democratically elected far-right president since WWII.

The outcome of Austria’s presidential elections today will serve as a new gauge of the populist wave sweeping Western democracies, as a divided country’s decision at the voting booths could deliver the first freely elected far-right head of state in Europe since World War II.

Austria is hold a re-run of the second round of a presidential vote later than previously announced, Prime Minister Wolfgang Sobotka has said.

The two candidates in Austria's presidential elections are running neck and neck in the second round of the vote held on Sunday.

Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ) candidate Norbert Hofer and former Green Party leader Alexander van der Bellen are both supported by around 50% of voters, according to a public TV projection cited by daily Der Standard.

VIENNA - Alexander van der Bellen, who is contesting Austria's presidential elections as an independent Green, says that as head of state, he will work to support the Western Balkans on the road to the EU and calls on Austrians of Serbian origin to support him on the road to opening the country's economy to the world and to prosperity.