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Austrian Pres. vows respect of democracy as far-right wins elections

VIENNA, Sept 30 (KUNA) -- President Alexander Van der Bellen vowed to respect tenets of democracy in Austria as election results in the country showed the far-right Freedom Party (FPO), led by Herbert Kickl, winning with 29.1 of the votes.
In a brief statement, Bellen said that the formation of a new government would come shortly.
He called for forming a coalition government from the winning parties due to none achieving a majority of votes.
On his part, Chancellor Karl Nehammer -- head of the Austrian Conservative People's Party (OVP), which came second in the elections with 26.4 percent of the votes -- expressed his disinterest in forming a coalition with the FP.
Meanwhile, Kickl said to the media that he and his party were delighted to win the election, saying that the win was historic. (end) amg.gta