Leftist candidate wins in Austria

Results allay liberal fears of a right-wing sweep in Europe.

Left-leaning Alexander Van der Bellen and his message of moderation and tolerance prevailed in Austria’s presidential election Sunday, with preliminary results showing him with an unbeatable margin over right-wing rival Norbert Hofer.

Austria’s president has mostly symbolic duties. But with Sunday’s election coming after Donald Trump’s win in the United States and the Brexit vote in Britain, the vote was being watched across Europe as an indication of how well right-wing euroskeptic figures would do next year in elections in other EU nations.

The result was greeted with relief and congratulations by mainstream politicians in Austria and neighboring Germany.

Vice Chancellor Sigmar Gabriel, who heads Germany’s center-left Social Democrats, told the Bild newspaper that “a load has been taken off the mind of all of Europe.” He called the result “a clear victory for good sense against rightwing populism.”

Austrian Chancellor Christian Kern said Van der Bellen “will represent Austria domestically and abroad in an excellent manner” — alluding to fears by establishment politicians in Austria that a victory by Hofer, whose anti-immigrant Freedom Party is critical of the European Union, would hurt Austria’s image.

Van der Bellen is pro-European Union and represents liberal to left-of-center views.

Martin Schulz, the president of the European Parliament called Van der Bellen’s victory a defeat for “anti-European, backward-looking populism.”

Right-wingers allied with Hofer, meanwhile, praised the losing candidate for a strong electoral fight despite his defeat.

With nearly all results counted, Van der Bellen had 53.3 percent of the vote to Hofer’s 46.7 percent.

While the margin may change slightly when final results are in, Austrian officials said the results gave Van der Bellen an unbeatable lead.

Noting the outsize attention the election in Austria was receiving, Van der Bellen declared that “what happens here today has relevance for all of Europe” as he cast his ballot.

As his victory became clear, Van der Bellen said it showed most voters backed his message of “freedom, equality, solidarity.”

He said he would work to unite a country deeply split between the moderate liberals who voted for him and supporters of Hofer’s anti-immigrant party.

ALEX DOMANSKI / GETTY IMAGES Austrian independent presidential candidate Alexander van der Bellen celebrates during the election party following elections on Sunday in Vienna. Exit polls indicated a clear victory for van der Bellen, a liberal and former professor.