Austrians vote in presidential election with incumbent set to win

Austrians were voting on Sunday in a presidential election expected to return incumbent Alexander Van der Bellen, seen as a beacon of stability as the Alpine country struggles with an energy crisis and inflation.

Campaigning on a slogan of “clarity” and “stability”, Van der Bellen is 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 in central Vienna.

Polls put the pro-European liberal as securing more than 50 percent of the vote, thus avoiding a run-off.

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

Polling stations opened at 7:00 am (0500 GMT) and close at 5:00 pm (1500 GMT), with early projections to be published shortly after they close.

– ‘Consistency’ –

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

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

He has the explicit or implicit backing of Austria’s major parties except the far-right Freedom Party (FPOe).

The latter has fielded its own candidate, Walter Rosenkranz, who is sitting in second place in the polls on 15 percent.

Also standing for the presidency is 35-year-old punk rocker Dominik Wlazny, founder of the Beer Party, named for its advocacy of the popular beverage. He polled at less than 10 percent ahead of Sunday’s vote.

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, following a corruption scandal that brought down the government they were part of and led to the resignation of then-chancellor Sebastian Kurz himself in 2021.

Analyst Thomas Hofer said it was “crucial” for Van der Bellen to avoid a run-off such as that of 2016, when the campaign was “very divisive and hostile”.

– 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, which has 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 in Vienna during World War II 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.