Austria's presidential election remains on a knife-edge with all
votes from polling stations now counted.
The interior ministry says that Norbert Hofer of the far-right
Freedom Party is currently slightly ahead of his rival, Alexander
Van der Bellen.
The result will only be decided when hundred of thousands of
postal ballots are counted on Monday.
A key campaign issue was Europe's migrant crisis, which has
seen asylum-seeker numbers soar.
About 90,000 people claimed asylum in Austria last year,
equivalent to about 1% of the Austrian population, and the
Freedom Party ran an anti-immigration campaign.
For the first time since World War Two, both the main centrist
parties were knocked out in the first round.
The presidency is a largely ceremonial post, but a victory for
Mr Hofer could be the springboard for Freedom Party success
in the next parliamentary elections, scheduled for 2018.
The presidents of the European Commission and the
European Parliament, Jean-Claude Juncker and Martin Schulz,
have both expressed concern over a Hofer victory.According to the interior ministry's final count of votes cast at
polling-stations (in German), Mr Hofer took 51.9% to 48.1% for
Mr Van der Bellen.
Postal voting accounts for 750,000 ballots, roughly 12% of
Austria's 6.4 million eligible voters, said Interior Minister
Wolfgang Sobotka.
"None of us wished for this," Mr Hofer said when he and Mr
Van der Bellen were interviewed by ORF after the vote on
Sunday.
"After all, both of us wanted to have a good night's sleep but it
is so exciting. I've been in politics for a long time but I've
never experienced an election night like this one."
Whoever won, he said, would have "the job of uniting Austria".
Mr Van der Bellen said that if he were elected president he
would be welcome in all member states of the EU.
"I have been pro-European during the five months of
campaigning," he said. "I made clear how important the
European Union is for freedom, security and prosperity - also
in Austria."
In the first round, Mr Hofer secured 35% of the votes, while Mr
Van der Bellen polled 21%.
The two rivals had engaged in an angry TV debate earlier in
the week, described as "political mud-wrestling" by
commentators.