麻豆约拍

A left-wing independent politician has pulled off a dramatic comeback in Austria's presidential election to defeat a candidate with a strongly anti-immigration platform. After an election yesterday that was too close to call, officials spent most of today counting hundreds of thousands of postal ballots which ended up vaulting Alexander Van der Bellen past Freedom Party rival Norbert Hofer and into the post. The size of the Freedom Party vote is the biggest sign yet of an increasing backlash in the EU against the principle of free movement of people. The 72-year-old former leader of the Green Party won 50.3% of the vote, compared to 49.7% for Hofer. Even though Mr Hofer was pipped to the largely ceremonial post, the result is being seen as a huge success for the the radical right Freedom Party which had a single digit share of the vote a decade ago. Franz Obermayer is an MEP and Freedom Party member. He's also a friend of Mr Hofer and told Susannah Streeter why he believed so many people had deserted the centre ground in this election.

(Picture: Norbert Hofer. Picture credit: Getty Images.)