Austria: new President wants to reconcile divided country

The screams of joy still echo in Vienna, after the victory of Alexander Van der Bellen that, by a narrow difference, conquest to his far-right opponent, the votes that allow him to occupy the highest post of the nation.

Van der Bellen, 72 years, professor of Economics will take possession on the day July 8, but in his first speech promises "be a President above the parties" to represent the country in its diversity ".

"Many people in this country have not been sufficiently heard or seen and we're going to need another other culture events and more communication, a policy not to worry with the media but with real fears of the people and with the discontent of the citizens of this country."

The defeated Norbert Hofer, the candidate of the Freedom Party (FPÖ), would have been the first European head of State to the extreme right after World War II.

The Austrian Chancellor, the social democrat Christian Kern, who took over just a week ago, welcomed by having the new President "a partner for a pro-European policy and open to the world".

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