Austrian president Alexander van der Bellen has criticized a campaign of hateful posts on social networks that erupted after it was learned that the first baby born in the country in 2018 was a Muslim.
Writing on Facebook, van der Bellen said, "Welcome, dear Asel!" and quoted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, saying: "All men are free and born equal in dignity and rights." In a short time, his post received tens of thousands of "likes" from surfers who were furious at public expressions of hatred against the Muslim family and the new baby.