Before Van der Bellen himself got on stage, a number of prominent Austrian celebrities and politicians supporting him, like poet Andre Heller and Vienna Mayor Dr. Michael Häupl, addressed the audience, praising the candidate and whipping his supporters up.
Pepi Raich, mayor of Van der Bellen’s hometown of Kaunertal, told Sputnik Germany that his candidate learned the importance of being a moderate instead of an extremist, and that it is small wonder that he serves as an inspiration to Austria’s youth.
"I believe that young people understand that we can’t allow Europe to disintegrate. Van der Bellen’s rival polarizes society; he doesn’t speak positively about anything. This poses a danger to us because Europe’s disintegration may lead to war," he said.
Traude Rochowanski, a Van der Bellen campaign worker, also told Sputnik that Austrian youth like herself grew up in an “open Europe” and fully appreciate the advantages of being able to freely travel and work abroad.
"Alexander Van der Bellen is a man who can unite people, as can be seen with our post-partisan election movement. We have members of all political factions aiding us voluntarily; there are even people from the rival party who say that the prolonged election campaign opened their eyes, that after gathering more information they decided to support Alexander Van der Bellen. He, among other things, supports the concept of a strong Europe. He says that while the EU has its drawbacks, its core principles are sound, and if we keep working on it there will be strong a Austria existing within the framework of strong Europe," she said.
This Sunday, December 4, Austrians will attempt to elect the country’s next president after the Austrian constitutional court overturned the results of the May election, which saw Van der Bellen win by a slim margin. He is running neck-and-neck with Norbert Hofer, a challenger from the right-wing Freedom Party.
