VIENNA: Austria's Norbert Hofer narrowly failed Monday to become the EU's first far-right president after his ecologist rival scraped to victory in a knife-edge election that was a rude wake-up call for the continent's established parties.

Alexander Van der Bellen won 50.3 percent of the vote in Sunday's second-round, marginally ahead of 49.7 percent for Hofer, presented as the friendly and moderate face of the anti-immigration, populist Freedom Party (FPOe).

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