Austria’s 78-year-old president said Sunday that he will run for reelection later this year, ending a period in which he has guided the Alpine country through repeated political upheaval.

Alexander Van der Bellen, a former Green Party leader, wrote on Twitter that the coronavirus pandemic, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the economic consequences, and the issues of climate change are all causing turmoil in Austria and Europe.

 “I would like to continue putting my experience at the service of our country,” he said, pledging to concentrate fully on his duties until a “short, fair, transparent and above all frugal” campaign this fall.

It’s unclear who he’ll face in the election, which has yet to be scheduled. Austria’s president is elected for a six-year term.

In a December 2016 election, Van der Bellen defeated the far-right Freedom Party’s candidate, Norbert Hofer. The rematch was ordered by Austria’s Constitutional Court after Hofer’s party claimed extensive voting irregularities in the first runoff, which Van der Bellen barely won.

The Austrian president is primarily a ceremonial figure, but he plays a significant role in times of internal political crisis. This has brought Van der Bellen a lot of attention.

Following the dissolution of conservative Chancellor Sebastian Kurz’s ruling coalition with the Freedom Party in 2019, the president named an interim Cabinet of non-partisan specialists led by Brigitte Bierlein, then the head of the Constitutional Court.

Austria’s senior lawmakers returned to Van der Bellen’s Hofburg palace last October after Kurz withdrew from a new government formed with the Greens. Within two months, the country had three chancellors, with Kurz’s successor, Alexander Schallenberg, giving way to current Chancellor Karl Nehammer.

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