Vienna : Austrian President Alexander Van der Bellen was sworn in, inaugurating his second six-year term. Van der Bellen won the presidential election in October 2022 with 56.7 per cent of the vote. He has served as Austrian President since 2017.
"I will fulfill my duty to the best of my knowledge and belief," the 79-year-old said in his inaugural address at the Austrian Parliament in Vienna on Thursday morning.
Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer later congratulated Van der Bellen on social media, saying he was looking forward to "continued good cooperation" with the President. The President of Austria traditionally plays a ceremonial role, but, under the country's constitution, has the power to dissolve the National Council (lower house of Parliament).
Van der Bellen was first elected president in 2016 in a closely watched race between him and the Freedom Party’s Norbert Hofer. That year, the same one that produced the Brexit vote in the United Kingdom and Donald Trump’s election in the United States, Austria could have elected its first far-right head of state since World War II.(IANS)