Alexander Van der Bellen

Alexander Van der Bellen, affectionately known as Sascha, was born on January eighteenth, nineteen forty-four, in Austria to parents who were refugees from occupied Estonia. His family became naturalized citizens of Austria in nineteen fifty-eight, and he is a descendant of the aristocratic Van der Bellen family, with roots tracing back to the Dutch ancestry of the eighteenth century.

Before entering the political arena, Van der Bellen was a professor of economics at the University of Vienna. His political career began with the Austrian Green Party, where he served as a member of the National Council from nineteen ninety-four to two thousand twelve, eventually becoming the party leader and spokesperson.

In the two thousand sixteen presidential election, he ran as an independent candidate with the support of the Greens, finishing second in the first round. Following a controversial annulment of the initial results, he won the re-held election on December fourth, securing approximately fifty-four percent of the vote. Since then, he has served as the president of Austria, a position he has held since two thousand seventeen.

Van der Bellen identifies as a centrist liberal, advocating for green and social liberal policies. He is a strong supporter of the European Union and promotes the idea of European federalism. His appeal to the political center garnered endorsements from leaders of both the Social Democratic Party and the conservative People's Party, marking him as the second Green president of a European Union country.