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| Austria presidential election result: Alexander Van der Bellen wins over far-right candidate Norbert Hofer | Austria presidential election result: Alexander Van der Bellen wins over far-right candidate Norbert Hofer |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| Alexander Van der Bellen has narrowly beaten his far-right rival Norbert Hofer to become Austria's new head of state. | Alexander Van der Bellen has narrowly beaten his far-right rival Norbert Hofer to become Austria's new head of state. |
| Despite two different exit polls giving Mr Hofer of the right-wing Freedom Party the lead, Austria's interior minister announced independent candidate Mr Van der Bellen, backed by the Greens, will become the country's next president. | |
| Interior Minister Wolfgang Sobotka said Mr Van der Bellen collected 50.3 per cent of the votes, compared to 49.7 for Mr Hofer. | |
| Nearly 700,000 absentee ballots were counted on Monday to determine the winner of the knife-edge election. Only a little more than 31,000 votes separated the two, out of more than 4.6 million votes cast. | |
| Sunday's provisional result, which did not include postal ballots, showed Mr Hofer ahead with 51.1 per cent to Mr Van der Bellen's 48.1 per cent. | Sunday's provisional result, which did not include postal ballots, showed Mr Hofer ahead with 51.1 per cent to Mr Van der Bellen's 48.1 per cent. |
| Mr Hofer conceded defeat in a post on Facebook. | Mr Hofer conceded defeat in a post on Facebook. |
| He said he was "naturally sad", adding: "I would have been happy to have cared for our wonderful country as federal president." | He said he was "naturally sad", adding: "I would have been happy to have cared for our wonderful country as federal president." |
| He said the work his supporters put in during the election is "not lost but an investment in the future". | He said the work his supporters put in during the election is "not lost but an investment in the future". |
| "It's a relief to see the Austrians reject populism and extremism," French Prime Minister Manuel Valls said in a Twitter post. "Everyone in Europe must draw lessons from this." | |
| Austria's presidency is a largely ceremonial role, but has important powers such as the ability to dismiss the cabinet. | Austria's presidency is a largely ceremonial role, but has important powers such as the ability to dismiss the cabinet. |