奥地利总统大选极右派候选人霍费尔被击败

Austria’s anti-immigrant candidate, Norbert Hofer, has failed in his bid to become the country’s first far right leader since World War II, in an election seen as a test for the strength of populist movements in Europe.

The former aeronautical engineer, who campaigned on an anti-establishment, anti-immigrant, anti-EU platform, conceded defeat to his environmentalist opponent, Alexander Van Der Bellen, who ran as an independent.

Media projections said Van der Bellen won with 53.3% of the vote, compared to Hofer’s 46.7%, a victory that Van der Bellen said is a “signal of hope and change” to “all the capitals of the European Union.”

Hofer had been poised to become the EU’s first far-right leader, as unease became evident in the country in the wake of a migrant crisis that has seen tens of thousands of Muslims seek asylum in Austria.

In Vienna on Sunday night, Hofer went before reporters at the city’s Hofburg Palace and pledged to keep up his efforts to ensure that the more than 46% of Austrians who voted for him were not ignored. “We are not done,” he said.

奥地利反移民总统候选人诺伯特∙霍费尔败选，在这场被看作是对欧洲民粹主义实力考验的选举中未能成为第二次世界大战以来奥地利第一位极右翼总统。

以反体制、反移民、反欧盟为竞选主题的前航空工程师霍费尔承认败给了对手－独立候选人、环保主义者亚历山大∙范德贝伦。

媒体预测，范德贝伦赢得了53.3%的选票，霍费尔赢得46.7%。范德贝伦说，他的胜利对于所有欧洲联盟国家来说“象征着希望与变革”。

霍费尔本来有希望成为欧洲联盟第一位极右翼领导人，因为奥地利民众显然对于大批穆斯林来到奥地利寻求庇护造成的移民危机感到不安。

霍费尔星期天在维也纳举行记者会，承诺要继续努力，确保那些投票支持他的46%的奥地利民众不会被忽略。他说：“我们的事业并没有结束。”