Van der Bellen says Austrian election victory is signal of hope and change for Europe

Record ID: 75582

  • Title: Van der Bellen says Austrian election victory is signal of hope and change for Europe
  • Date: 4th December 2016
  • Summary: VIENNA, AUSTRIA (DECEMBER 4, 2016) (REUTERS) **** WARNING CONTAINS FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY **** VARIOUS OF PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION WINNER ALEXANDER VAN DER BELLEN ARRIVING TO GIVE STATEMENT CAMERAS VARIOUS OF VAN DER BELLEN SPEAKING (SOUNDBITE) (English) PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION WINNER, ALEXANDER VAN DER BELLEN, SAYING: "I think it is a historic day for Austria, for several reasons. For the first time a presidential election had to be repeated and it was not just a repetition - in fact it was a new election, because you know conditions changed, the world around us has changed. We had the Brexit vote in Great Britain, in the United Kingdom, we had the election of Donald Trump in the United States and so on, in six months many things happened." VARIOUS OF CAMERAS (SOUNDBITE) (English) PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION WINNER, ALEXANDER VAN DER BELLEN, SAYING: "I think it is not an exaggeration if I say that today we see a red-white-red - you know, the flag of Austria - a red-white-red signal of hope and change, a red-white-red signal today goes from Austria to all the capitals of the European Union." PHOTOGRAPHERS VAN DER BELLEN SPEAKING (SOUNDBITE) (English) PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION WINNER, ALEXANDER VAN DER BELLEN, SAYING: "I will try to be an open-minded, liberal-minded and first of all a pro-European federal president of the republic of Austria." MEDIA VAN DER BELLEN SEEN ON CAMERA SCREEN VAN DER BELLEN SPEAKING
  • Embargoed: 19th December 2016 20:55
  • Keywords: Alexander Van der Bellen presidential election victory hope
  • Location: VIENNA, AUSTRIA
  • City: VIENNA, AUSTRIA
  • Country: Austria
  • Reuters ID: LVA0015BGY2BR
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: The winner of Austria's presidential election said on Sunday (December 4) that his victory marked a "historic day" for Austria and sent a signal of hope to Europe.
    "I think it is not an exaggeration if I say that today we see a red-white-red - you know, the flag of Austria - a red-white-red signal of hope and change, a red-white-red signal today goes from Austria to all the capitals of the European Union," left-leaning independent candidate Alexander Van der Bellen told reporters in Vienna.
    Van der Bellen soundly defeated far-right candidate Norbert Hofer at the polls on Sunday, confounding forecasts of a tight election in which he would ride a wave of populism sweeping the West.
    Hofer, of the anti-immigration and anti-Islam Freedom Party (FPO), was seeking to become Europe's first freely elected far-right head of state since World War Two but conceded defeat soon after polls closed.
    A projection by pollster SORA for broadcaster ORF, which included a count of 99 percent of ballots cast in polling stations, showed Van der Bellen on 53.3 percent and Hofer on 46.7 percent with a margin of error of 0.4 percentage points.
    A former Greens leader, Van der Bellen put the June Brexit referendum in the United Kingdom at the centre of his campaign, saying the far right would lead Austria down the same road and warning voters not to "play with this fire".
    On Sunday evening he said he would try to be an "open-minded, liberal-minded and first of all a pro-European" president.
    The result dealt a blow to populists who had hoped a wave of anti-establishment anger sweeping Western democracies would carry Hofer to power after Britain's vote to leave the European Union and the U.S. election of Donald Trump as president.
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