Austria voted to elect its president, and outgoing environmental expert Van der Bellen is the favorite

Austrians on Sunday began voting for a presidential election expected to reappoint outgoing green president Alexander van der Bellen, seen as a symbol of stability as the European Union member nation grapples with an energy crisis and inflation.

Supported by a wide range of the political class, he received more than 50% of the vote in opinion polls and appeared to win the first round against six opponents, all men.

“The Couch Will Be Your Biggest Contender On Sunday”On Friday, the 78-year-old head of state mocked the end of the campaign in front of his supporters. If you care about liberal democracy, go vote. »

The retreat of the far right

The far-right FPÖ party, which nearly won against him in 2016, wants to play the match again. But its candidate is little known: Walter Rosenkranz, 60, will receive only 15% of the vote, versus recent elections in Sweden and Italy.

Corruption cases fell to the far right in Austria, which was the first in Europe to come close to winning a presidential election six years ago. The FPÖ party was founded by ex-Nazis tilted with over 46% of the vote, after polling with twists and turns.

If the party subsequently entered the government by forming a coalition with the young conservative Sebastian Kurz, it was forced to leave power in 2019 after an incredible scandal and has not since regained its former glory.

Voting ends at 5 pm.

In the face of these disturbances and the succession of chancellors, Alexander van der Bellen, with the traditional function of ensuring protocol, ensured the continuity of the state. This pro-European passes too “built-in” According to Julia Barthemüller, of the University of Vienna, she “Great appreciation” Compared with “Multiple crises facing many European countries”.

In the Alpine nation of 9 million, 6.4 million voters – including Austrian-American Arnold Schwarzenegger, a staunch supporter of the president – were invited to vote for a six-year term. Polling stations opened at 7 a.m. and will close at 5 p.m., when polling is expected on polling day.