PhotoVIENNA — In a closely watched election, Austrians voted on Sunday for a new president, the climax of a bitter yearlong tussle and the latest test of anti-migrant, anti-Muslim and populist forces rising across the Continent and in the United States. His party contested the slim victory of his rival, the former Greens leader Alexander Van der Bellen, and Austria’s highest court ordered a re-run on procedural grounds. The Social Democrats who head the national government have backed Mr. Van der Bellen and expressed hope that, after Sunday, Austrians can take a break from political campaigning. In an interview last month, Mr. Hofer made it clear that he thought the American election had bolstered support for his Freedom Party. At first, she said, she thought people had to have some special quirk to vote for Mr. Hofer.

Source: New York Times December 04, 2016 10:51 UTC