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Alexander Van der Bellen

Also Known As Alexander "Sascha" Van der Bellen, Van der Bellen

president of Austria

Education

  • Economics at the University of Innsbruck -
  • Master's degree -

Overview

Alexander "Sascha" Van der Bellen also referred to by the abbreviation VdB, is an Austrian politician serving as the president of Austria since 2017. He previously served as a professor of economics at the University of Vienna, and after joining politics, as the spokesman of the Austrian Green Party.

He was a member of the National Council representing the Green Party there from 1994 to 2012, and served as both leader of the party as well as its parliamentary group.

He ran as a nominally independent candidate supported by the Greens in the 2016 presidential election, and finished second out of six in the first round before winning the second round against Norbert Hofer, a member of the Freedom Party. On 1 July, before he was due to be sworn into office, the results of the second round of voting were annulled by the Constitutional Court due to absentee votes being improperly counted too early, requiring the election to be re-held. On 4 December 2016, he won the ensuing election, taking approximately 54% of the vote.

Van der Bellen has described himself as a centrist liberal, and supports green and social liberal policies. As discussed in his 2015 book, he is supportive of the European Union and advocates European federalism. During the presidential election, he appealed to the political centre and was endorsed by the leaders of both the Social Democratic Party and the conservative People's Party. Van der Bellen is the second Green president of a European Union country (after Raimonds Vējonis of Latvia) and the first to be directly elected by popular vote

Early Life

Alexander "Sascha" Van der Bellen born 18 January 1944), also referred to by the abbreviation VdB, is an Austrian politician serving as the president of Austria since 2017. He previously served as a professor of economics at the University of Vienna, and after joining politics, as the spokesman of the Austrian Green Party.

Van der Bellen was born in Austria to Russian and Estonian parents who were refugees from the occupation of the Baltic states, and he became a naturalized citizen of Austria together with his parents in 1958. He is a descendant of the former Russian Empire's aristocratic Van der Bellen family of patrilineal Dutch ancestry dating back to 18th century

Career

  • President of Austria -

Recognition

Austrian honours :

Grand Decoration of Honour in Gold with Star of the Decoration of Honour for Services to the Republic of Austria (4 May 2004).

Grand Star of the Decoration of Honour for Services to the Republic of Austria (26 January 2017).

Foreign honours :

 Grand Cordon of the Order of Leopold (21 March 2022)

 Collar of the Order of the Cross of Terra Mariana (21 May 2021)

 Knight Grand Cross with Collar of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic (27 June 2019)

 Grand Star of the Order of Merit of the Principality of Liechtenstein (20 March 2018)

 Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Netherlands Lion (27 June 2022)

 Grand Collar of the Military Order of Saint James of the Sword (18 June 2019)

 Member 1st class of the Order of the White Double Cross (21 March 2019)

 Member of the Order for Exceptional Merits (8 December 2022)

 Recipient of the Grand Order of Mugunghwa (14 June 2021)

 Collar of the Order pro Merito Melitensi (16 November 2017)

 Collar of the Order of the White Lion (2 March 2023)

Reference

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