After an agonizing vote counting process, the final result of the race for the Presidency of Austria became known: independent and moderate candidate Alexander Van der Bellen, a former Green Party leader and son of refugees, beat his rival Norbert Hofer, who was supported by the far-right Freedom Party and expressed eurosceptic and anti-immigration views. It is a relief but the close outcome does not allow for complacence. Extensive soul searching is in order, for Austria and Europe, how these old, nationalistic and intolerant ghosts could have come back from Europe’s past and claimed its future…
The editorial team of Katoikos
