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World / Americas

Polls open in key Austrian presidential runoff

Published: 22 May 2016 - 08:15 am | Last Updated: 30 Nov 2021 - 12:18 am
Peninsula

Right-wing Austrian Freedom Party (FPOe) presidential candidate Norbert Hofer (L) and Leader of the FPOe Heinz-Christian Strache (R) wave a flag during Hofer's final election campaign rally. EPA/CHRISTIAN BRUNA

 

Vienna: Voting began early Sunday in Austria's key presidential runoff which could usher in the European Union's first extreme right-wing leader amid the continent's worst migrant crisis since World War II.

Polling stations opened at 0500 GMT. The vote pits 45-year-old Norbert Hofer of the anti-immigration Freedom Party (FPOe) against the Green-backed economics professor Alexander van der Bellen, 72.

AFP