Sharjah24 - AFP: Austrians were voting on Sunday in a presidential election expected to return incumbent Alexander Van der Bellen, seen as a beacon of stability as the Alpine country struggles with an energy crisis and inflation.
Campaigning on a slogan of "clarity" and "stability", Van der Bellen is widely tipped to clinch a second mandate, with his six challengers -- all men -- lagging far behind.
"It would be nice if we had clarity today -- nice for Austria, nice for us --, if we can then fully concentrate on the diverse tasks ahead, the multitude of crises... that we in Austria, in Europe, are facing," the 78-year-old economics professor said after casting his ballot in central Vienna.
Polls put the pro-European liberal as securing more than 50 percent of the vote, thus avoiding a run-off.
Some 6.4 million people are eligible to cast their ballots from the European Union country's total population of nine million.
Polling stations opened at 7:00 am (0500 GMT) and close at 5:00 pm (1500 GMT), with early projections to be published shortly after they close.
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