Austrian Norbert Hofer LOSES bid to become Europe’s first far-right leader since Hitler
His promise of ‘putting Austria first’ won him a lot of support, especially with the growing fear of migrants
By ROBERT FISK
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A FAR-RIGHT Austrian presidential candidate has been narrowly defeated in his bid to become the EU’s first anti-immigrant leader.
Norbert Hofer, of the Freedom Party (FPOe), was neck-and-neck with independent candidate Alexander Van der Bellen with the polls putting both men at 50 per cent of the vote.
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Former Green Party leader Alexander Van der Bellen thanked his supporters after being declared the winner of the Austrian presidential election
reports election experts had suggested the 900,000 postal votes would favour Hofer as they were more likely to be cast by older people who are more right-wing.
The influx of asylum-seekers, rising unemployment and frozen reforms have all contributed to voters being pushed away from the two centrist parties that have dominated Austrian politics since 1945.
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