26/04/2004 (Agence Europe) - Social Democrat Heinz Fischer, president of the Austrian parliament was elected president of the Austrian Republic, replacing Tomas Klestil ÖVP. His rival in this election was foreign affairs minister Benita Ferrero Waldner (ÖVP). Ferrero-Waldner indicated after her defeat that Chancellor Schüssel had asked her to remain in her ministerial post. The Austrian president has been a conservative for 18 years. The new PES president Poul Nyrup Rasmussen welcomed the...