- Title: Austria's Hofer promises victory as preliminary results show far-right ahead
- Date: 22nd May 2016
- Summary: SUPPORTERS CHEERING AS HOFER AND FREEDOM PARTY LEADER, HEINZ-CHRISTIAN STRACHE, ARRIVE ON STAGE HOFER ON STAGE HOFER AND STRACHE HUGGING ON STAGE SUPPORTERS AND HOFER ON STAGE (SOUNDBITE) (German) AUSTRIAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE, NORBERT HOFER, SAYING: "I want to tell you what I have learned in my life. Man must go on and on and on along his path and when basic values are right, when it is clear to you, regardless of what you do, regardless of the outcome, that Austria is our greatest concern, then success will come on its own, maybe today, maybe tomorrow, maybe the day after that. Life is short, but long enough to serve Austria. All the best." SUPPORTERS APPLAUDING AND CHEERING
- Embargoed: 6th June 2016 23:03
- Keywords: Austria presidential election Norber Hofer far-right
- Location: VIENNA, AUSTRIA
- City: VIENNA, AUSTRIA
- Country: Austria
- Topics: Government/Politics,Elections/Voting
- Reuters ID: LVA0024IW40NB
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text:Austria's presidential election was too close to call on Sunday (May 22), as a preliminary result showed far-right candidate Norbert Hofer ahead but only by a narrow margin despite his promises that he would emerge as the winner.
Postal ballots were set to determine whether the eurosceptic anti-immigration candidate would become the European Union's first far-right head of state as the provisional result from the Interior Ministry showed Hofer ahead with 51.9 percent to van der Bellen's 48.1 percent.
"I want to tell you what I have learned in my life. Man must go on and on and on along his path and when basic values are right, when it is clear to you, regardless of what you do, regardless of the outcome, that Austria is our greatest concern, then success will come on its own, maybe today, maybe tomorrow, maybe the day after that," Hofer told his supporters following the vote.
Supporters said the provisional results were remarkable, regardless of the outcome.
"It doesn't matter how the result turns out, whether Hofer will now be president or not, but it's simply a milestone, to achieve so much," said Patrick, a Hofer supporter.
A victory for the Freedom Party candidate would be a landmark triumph for resurgent populist parties across Europe that have capitalised on Europe's migration crisis and widespread dissatisfaction with traditional parties of power.
It would be all the more remarkable for being in a prosperous country with low unemployment, where two centrist parties have dominated since it emerged shattered from World War Two after its annexation by Nazi Germany in 1938.
A projection by the SORA institute for broadcaster ORF, based on 100 percent of votes cast in polling stations and an estimate of the outcome of postal voting, showed a statistical dead heat on 50.0 percent each. The margin of error was 0.7 percentage point. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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