17/05/2016 (Agence Europe) - Christian Kern is new Austrian Chancellor. On Tuesday 17 May, the Austrian Social Democrat, Christian Kern, was officially inaugurated as the new Chancellor. In his letter congratulating Mr Kern, on the same day, the President of the European Council, Donald Tusk, said that "In challenging times like these, the continued constructive contribution of Austria to finding common European solutions and keeping our unity is essential". Mr Kern has hitherto been heading the Austrian national railway company. He will be replacing Werner Faymann, who resigned last week due to the poor results obtained by the Social Democratic Party SPÖ in the first round of the presidential elections (see EUROPE 11547). On Sunday 22 May, Austrians will choose their future president. They will choose between Norbert Hofer, the candidate for the extreme right FPÖ who obtained the most votes in the first round (35% of votes) and the former head of the Greens, Alexander Van der Bellen (21,3%). (MB)