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Austria election: Far-right candidate Norbert Hofer concedes defeat | |
(35 minutes later) | |
Austria's Norbert Hofer has conceded defeat after his hopes of becoming the European Union's first far-right president were dashed when the first official results were released. | |
The results showed left-leaning candidate Alexander Van der Bellen with what appeared to be an unbeatable lead over his rival. | |
When the results were released shortly after polls closed on Sunday, Mr Van der Bellen had 53.5 per cent, while Mr Hofer had 46.4 per cent. | |
Austria's Freedom Party conceded defeat within minutes of the poll projections being released. | |
"I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate Mr Van der Bellen," the party's chief strategist told Austrian media. | |
"The bottom line is it didn't quite work out," he said. "In this case the establishment — which pitched in once again to block, to stonewall and to prevent renewal — has won." | |
Mr Hofer congratulated his opponent on Facebook and called on "all Austrians to stick together and work together". | |
He was "incredibly sad," he added. | |
While votes continue to be counted, officials say they will not change the outcome but the percentages may still vary. | |
The margin came as a surprise — polls ahead of Sunday's vote had shown the two candidates neck-and-neck. | |
The election is a court-ordered re-run of a May vote that Mr Van der Bellen won by less than one per cent. | |
An anti-immigration and Eurosceptic candidate, Mr Hofer was hoping to become the first far-right European head of state since Adolf Hitler in the election. | |
Hofer, a 45-year-old former aeronautical engineer, moved the emphasis from the Austrian Freedom Party's (FPOe) often xenophobic agenda to one highlighting social inequality. | |
The gun-enthusiast has ran with the slogan "unspoilt, honest, good", and won the first round of the presidential election in April with 35 per cent of the vote - knocking out the top government-backed candidates. | |
Relegating the issue of immigration, Mr Hofer's campaign then focused on economic reforms and a call for a more Swiss-style direct democracy. | |
In May, he lost the presidential election by just 31,000 votes to Mr Van der Bellen - but after FPOe cried foul, voting irregularites were uncovered and a re-run was organised. | |
Despite softening his message, Hofer called for Austria's borders to be "protected" and warned against the "dangers of the wrong immigration policy". | |
Speaking to a young Austrian Muslim on a talk show in May, he said Islam "has no place in Austria" as it poses a threat to the country's Judeo-Christian and humanist values. |