Read news from:
Austria
SHARE
COPY LINK

POLITICS

Austrian president re-elected on promises of stability: projections

Austrian President Alexander Van der Bellen has been re-elected, projections showed Sunday, on promises of stability as the Alpine country struggles with an energy crisis and inflation.

Published: 9 October 2022 09:53 CEST
Updated: 9 October 2022 16:35 CEST
Austrian president van der bellen addresses a press conference
In this file photo taken on March 17, 2021 Austrian President Alexander Van der Bellen addresses a press conference in Vienna. Austrians voted on October 9, 2022 in presidential elections, with projections showing that Van der Bellen has won. Photo: Joe Klamar / AFP

The projections showed the 78-year-old incumbent swept 54.6 percent of the votes with six other candidates — all men — lagging far behind.

The final official result is not expected until Monday.

Campaigning on a slogan of “clarity”, Van der Bellen had been widely tipped to clinch a second mandate, with his six challengers — all men — lagging far behind.

“It would be nice if we had clarity today — nice for Austria, nice for us — if we can then fully concentrate on the diverse tasks ahead, the multitude of crises… that we in Austria, in Europe, are facing,” the 78-year-old economics professor said after casting his ballot earlier on Sunday in central Vienna.

Polls ahead of the election had suggested the pro-European liberal would secure more than 50 percent of the vote, thus avoiding a run-off.

READ ALSO: Van der Bellen could avoid run-off in presidential election as still strong favourite: poll

Some 6.4 million people were eligible to cast their ballots from the country’s total population of nine million.

Polling stations in Vienna and much of the rest of the country opened at 7:00 am local time (0500 GMT) with a few opening as early as 6:00 am, and closed at 5:00 pm (1500 GMT).

 The presidential post, which has a term of six years, is largely ceremonial.

‘Consistency’

“I am in favour of consistency,” 73-year-old retiree Monika Gregor told AFP outside a Vienna polling station earlier on Sunday, saying she had voted for Van der Bellen and thought he was “very clever”.

Posters proclaim the former Greens leader to be “the safe choice in stormy times” as the ripple effects of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine push up inflation throughout Europe.

Van der Bellen was running again as an independent but he has the explicit or implicit backing of Austria’s major parties except the far-right Freedom Party (FPOe), which fielded its own candidate, Walter Rosenkranz, who, according to the projections, got 18.9 percent.

Also standing for the presidency was 35-year-old punk rocker Dominik Wlazny, founder of the Beer Party named for its advocacy of the popular beverage. 

He came in fourth place with 8.1 percent, according to the projections.

Alexander Nittmann, 35, a software developer, said he had voted for Wlazny, hoping he would bring “a breath of fresh air”.

Van der Bellen — who supporters affectionately call “the professor” — faced an unexpectedly tough fight in 2016, only winning the race in a run-off against an FPOe politician.

But the FPOe’s ratings have plummeted since 2019 after a corruption scandal brought down the government they were part of and eventually led to the resignation of then-chancellor Sebastian Kurz himself in 2021.

Ahead of Sunday’s vote, analyst Thomas Hofer said it is “crucial” that Van der Bellen avoids a run-off like in 2016 when the campaign was “very divisive and hostile”.

READ ALSO: Austrian presidential elections: Who are the seven candidates?

Trademark professorial manner

“Van der Bellen stands for integrity and stability, which is very appreciated by voters given the multitude of crises that many European countries are currently facing,” Julia Partheymueller, a political analyst at the University of Vienna, told AFP.

Known for his trademark professorial manner, Van der Bellen will be Austria’s oldest head of state to be sworn in if he wins.

The presidential post, with a term of six years, is largely ceremonial.

Van der Bellen — also known as “Sasha”, a nickname that nods to his Russian roots — was born during World War II in Vienna to an aristocratic Russian father and an Estonian mother who fled Stalinism.

The arrival of the Red Army a year later forced the family to escape to the southern state of Tyrol, where Van der Bellen spent an “idyllic childhood”.

He studied economics at the University of Innsbruck and finished his PhD in 1970 before going on to become dean of economics at the University of Vienna.

At an election event last month, Alexandra Hoefenstock said she would vote Van der Bellen as he had managed the political crises well in his last stint in office.

“I hope for political stability,” the 38-year-old Vienna city worker said.

READ ALSO: EXPLAINED: How does Austria’s presidential election work?

Member comments

Log in here to leave a comment.
Become a Member to leave a comment.
For members

POLITICS

How Austria’s centre-left SPÖ party plans to change integration policy

Asylum, migration, and integration policies are a much-debated issue in Austria, particularly as the country heads to its national elections in the fall. What are the centre-left SPÖ plans?

Published: 24 June 2024 12:12 CEST
How Austria's centre-left SPÖ party plans to change integration policy

National elections in Austria will take place this fall, and one of the most debated issues – certainly one that has been driving voters for the past few years – is the refugee and asylum policy debates. 

While the far-right party FPÖ has gained popularity with extremist views such as closing off Austria entirely for asylum seekers, the centre-right ÖVP has also presented tougher stances. The chancellor’s party has publicly defended the creation of “asylum centres” for processing outside of the EU borders. Chancellor Karl Nehammer has also fully supported the UK’s plan to deport asylum seekers to “safe third countries”. 

A tougher stance on refugee policies has proved popular in Austria, and the centre-left SPÖ party has also seemed to lean toward stricter ideas more recently. However, since the party got a new leadership, a precise migration programme had not been presented yet. However, the issue was pressing, particularly following the party’s poor performance in the EU elections, when migration played a key role.

READ ALSO: How a change in the profile of asylum seekers is impacting Austria

So what are the party’s plans?

The SPÖ presented a new” masterplan” for asylum, migration, and integration. According to the SPÖ, the “Doskozil-Kaiser paper,” which has existed since 2018, has been “sharpened,” resulting in an “offensive paper” with approaches for action, said SPÖ leader Andreas Babler.

The aim was to “ensure balance and order” under “the premise of humanity”, said Babler at a press conference in Vienna.

The plan’s main points include faster procedures at the EU’s external borders, a fair distribution of refugees within the EU, and sanctions against countries that refuse to do so. With this, the SPÖ wants to reach a 75 percent reduction in the number of asylum applications. 

For example, the party leaders mentioned Hungary, where there were only 45 applications in 2023, compared to almost 60,000 in Austria. They said Hungary had to be persuaded to cooperate by exhausting all legal and political means.

The SPÖ proposes procedure centres along the EU’s external borders so that procedures can be completed more quickly and people do not hand themselves over to smugglers. The EU should set up “common centres for asylum applications”, for example, in embassies. 

People should only be distributed within the EU once the asylum applications have been assessed favourably. As a first step, cooperation between individual states could occur without the consent of all EU member states.

READ ALSO: When do Austrians think an immigrant is successfully integrated?

‘Integration year’ and deportation

The SPÖ plan contains an “extended mandatory integration year” that would ensure refugees get “German and values courses.” However, severe penalties, including deportation, would be imposed for serious offences or “repeated minor crimes.” 

Instead of mass accommodation, the SPÖ proposes small centres enabling better contact with the population. Women’s rights should also become a “central guiding principle for integration”. Women’s self-determination is the top priority, said SPÖ women’s spokesperson Eva-Maria Holzleitner.

The party reiterated that asylum is fundamentally a human right that should never be questioned. However, those who are denied their asylum request would be deported to their country of origin or safe third countries, the party advocates. 

READ ALSO: Who needs to take Austria’s integration exam?

Criticism from the right

Over the weekend, party representatives from far-right FPÖ and centre-right ÖVP have come out to criticise the SPÖ proposals. 

An FPÖ spokesperson said the plan is “pure PR policy” and that, in truth, the SPÖ had “always opened the door to illegal mass immigration under the guise of asylum”. The ÖVP said the proposals are just “headlines instead of concrete proposals for solutions”. 

In a press release, the party said that no capacity limit was presented, showing “that the SPÖ has still not realised that illegal migration cannot be countered by further squeezing the Austrian taxpayer”

SHOW COMMENTS