Austria a Hard-Fought, Bitter Victory

As is customary on election day, Austrian voters donned their Sunday finest before going to the polls to choose a new President. The formality seemed to reflect a widespread somberness as they cast their ballots in the final round of a five-month presidential campaign that had evolved into a painful referendum on the country's past. The race was overshadowed by allegations that Kurt Waldheim, the former United Nations Secretary-General (1972-1982) and candidate of the conservative People's Party, had lied about his knowledge of Nazi atrocities committed while he served as an officer in the German army during World War II. Despite...