Alexander Van der Bellen was appointed as Austria’s new president on Thursday.
Van der Bellen was declared the winner with 53.6 percent of the vote in the presidential election in December, ahead of Norbert Hofer from the extreme right party FPÖ.
Van der Bellen originally won the election in May, but the results were annulled when Hofer complained of tampering.
It is the first time since World War II that the country gets a head of state who does not come from the Christian Democrats ÖVP or social democratic SPO.
Van der Bellen (72) has a background from the Greens, which achieved record results under his leadership. He resigned in 2008 and stood as an independent candidate in last year’s election – although the election campaign was largely financed by his old party.
Source: NTB scanpix / Norway Today
