Austrians reject far-right presidential candidate Norbert Hoffer

Austrians rejected far-right candidate Norbert Hofer becoming the country’s next head of state on Sunday.

Hofer lost the re-run of the presidential election, for a largely ceremonial post, by 46.7% to 53.3% for Alexander van der Bellen, a pro-European from the Green party, with high turnout out at 73.8%.

The vote was Austria’s second presidential election this year, the previous one in May was annulled by the country’s supreme court because postal ballots were opened too early.

Van der Bellen narrowly won May’s election by only 30,863 votes by 50.35% to 49.65% for Hoffer’s Freedom party (FPO).

During the campaign Hoffer said he would call a referendum on EU membership, while Van der Bellen campaigned on a pro-EU ticket. The result is seen as a push back from a populist surge and was closely followed in Europe with elections in France, the Netherlands and Germany looming next year.

Van der Bellen said the result was for a "pro-European" Austria based on "freedom, equality and solidarity".

He said: "I will try to be an open-minded, a liberal-minded and first of all a pro-European federal president of the Republic of Austria."

Holger Schmieding, chief economist at Berenberg, said that in Austria, the eurosceptic, far-right is stronger than in other eurozone countries, now scoring about 34% in opinion polls.

“The FPO’s Hofer came close to winning the presidential election partly because Van der Bellen, as a former boss of the Green party, was not ideally suited to attract all votes from the mainstream parties, especially those from the centre-right. If Hofer had won, it would have been the first outright victory for a right-wing populist in the eurozone.

"In the wake of Donald Trump’s upset triumph in the US, it would have made a torrent of headlines and would have been seized upon by France’s Marine Le Pen and far-right candidates elsewhere as evidence that they are on the way up."

However, he said that from recent opinion polls, the FPO still looks set to become the strongest party in Austria’s next parliamentary elections in autumn 2018.

“If so, the mainstream pro-EU and pro-euro parties from the centre-right and centre-left would still get 60% to 65% of the popular vote and seats in parliament. They would see to it that Austria does not turn its back on Europe and would prevent any referendum on the euro – which would likely result in a clear vote for the euro anyway.

"After all, Austria had de facto let its monetary policy be run from Frankfurt even well before the euro. In addition, sensing a realistic chance to get elected, Hofer had distanced himself from his party’s earlier calls for an EU referendum, saying that such a referendum would only be necessary if Turkey were to join the EU. That looks pretty unlikely for the foreseeable future, to put it mildly.”