AFP, May 23, 2016 – The interior minister said that Alexander Van der Bellen won 50.3 percent of the vote in Sunday’s election, compared to 49.7 percent for Hofer, presented as the friendly and moderate face of the anti-immigration, populist Freedom Party (FPOe).
“Of course I am sad,” Hofer said on Facebook as he conceded defeat. “I would have loved to have looked after this wonderful country for you as president.”
He added: “Please don’t be disheartened. The effort in this election campaign is not wasted, but is an investment for the future.”
 

Austrian presidential candidates Alexander Van der Bellen (left) and Norbert Hofer in Vienna, on May 22, 2016

Preliminary results late Sunday had put Hofer 3.8 percentage points ahead in the runoff for the largely ceremonial but bitterly fought-over post of Austrian head of state.
But this paper-thin margin was erased after a record 700,000 postal ballots were counted during Monday, dramatically putting Van der Bellen ahead by just over 31,000 votes in the final tally.
Most observers had thought that the professorial and somewhat dishevelled Van der Bellen, 72, would fail to beat his polished younger rival after lagging 14 points behind him in the first round on April 24.

Supporters of the Austrian Freedom Party (FPOe) in Vienna on May 22, 2016

French Prime Minister Manuel Valls immediately voiced his “relief” that Van der Bellen had triumphed over the far-right challenge.
“Relief to see the Austrians reject populism and extremism,” Valls tweeted about the result. “Everyone in Europe should learn from this.”
Their failure means that for the first time since 1945, the two parties had to watch the runoff from the sidelines. This was the final straw for Werner Faymann of the SPOe, who quit as chancellor on May 9.
But Van der Bellen now has to unite a polarized nation after what has been a bruising election campaign in a wealthy and stable country more used to a polite and consensual way of conducting politics.
“The main rift is … around issues like the EU, migrants and trust in the system,” political analyst Thomas Hofer told AFP.
The new chancellor, railways boss Christian Kern, also has a Herculean job before him: winning back voters from the arms of the FPOe in time for the next general elections, due in 2018, and jump-starting the moribund coalition with the OeVP.
Despite narrowly losing out on the presidency, party leader Heinz-Christian Strache, 46, will have been boosted by the close contest in his hopes to become chancellor in two years.
His party is leading in opinion polls with more than 30 percent of voter intentions.