(26 Jan 2017) Austria's new president on Thursday called for a tolerant and diverse nation in an inauguration speech that embraced the ideal of a united Europe.
President Alexander Van der Bellen outlined a vision markedly different from that offered during campaigning by his right-wing rival Norbert Hofer, the populist he defeated last month after an unprecedented repeat vote.
Hofer had campaigned on a law-and-order platform in line with his Freedom Party's opposition to Muslim immigration, its focus on Austrians first and its depiction of the European Union as an out-of-touch institution damaging the sovereignty of national states.
In contrast, the left-leaning Van der Bellen rejected nationalism in favour of a "common Europe" as a "project of peace", the preservation of which was worth "any effort", he said.

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