Finland heads to vote in a crucial presidential election dominated by the growing threat from neighboring Russia.
of New member of NATO Early voting has begun ahead of this Sunday’s main vote, after popular conservative President Sauli Niinistö steps down after two six-year terms. Two of the nine candidates “have clearly emerged as favorites,” he said. euro newsand “representing the left and right of the Finnish political spectrum.”
Former Prime Minister Alexander Stubb is vying for the top spot (he is only slightly ahead in the rankings). poll) Pekka Haavisto of the ruling right-wing National Union Party and former Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto, candidate for the Green Party. If elected in a general vote later this month, Haavisto will become the country’s first gay president.
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Politico notes that given Finland’s “key geopolitical position along NATO’s longest and increasingly belligerent border with Russia,” political leaders across Europe have also We will be watching the vote with great interest.” The outcome of the election could have far-reaching implications for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) security alliance, the Nordic-Baltic region, and the Russian threat to both countries.
european leader
Finland’s president has considerable powers and is responsible for the defense and foreign policy of one of the world’s most successful economies, while the prime minister runs the executive branch. According to Al Jazeera, the president also attended a North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) summit and “declared war and peace.”
The news site said that thanks to Finland’s “liberal democratic values, economic health and support for Ukraine,” the Nordic country is also “a standard-bearer for Western positions and institutional strength on Russia’s borders.” .
It also comes as neighboring Sweden moves a step closer to joining the NATO security alliance, with Turkey’s parliament expected to approve the membership proposal and President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to sign it. . “This will strengthen the security of the entire alliance and the region,” Latvian President Edgars Rinkevičis posted. X.
Sweden and Finland jointly applied to join NATO in 2022, after both countries abandoned their traditional neutrality in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Like Finland’s current leader, former prime minister and presidential candidate Stubbe has previously said that recognizing Finland is strengthen NATO and “maximize European security”.
The election could also help observers predict the direction of European politics ahead of parliamentary elections in June.
A new report has warned that populist, anti-EU parties are expected to perform well in this year’s European Parliament elections.
The European Council on Foreign Relations report said populists should top opinion polls in nine countries and come in second or third place in a further nine. The surge could derail EU support for Ukraine and the European Green Deal and should serve as a “wake-up call” to policymakers, the report’s authors warned.
hostile neighbors
Al Jazeera noted that Finland controls the EU’s longest border with Russia and is “one of the few EU countries to have gone to war” with Russia.
Finland historically did not join NATO to avoid antagonism with neighboring Russia, but Putin’s invasion caused a “significant change” in the country’s thinking, the Guardian reported. The country has since installed a barbed wire fence along part of its eastern border with Russia.
Finland’s geopolitical position has “moved from an uninteresting corner of the peace to a potential new flashpoint that is being actively targeted by Russian state propaganda,” said Europe’s leading defense and security think tank. Dr. Sari Arjo Havren of the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) writes: In a time of “global tectonic shifts,” Russia’s border issue “has become increasingly important for presidential election debates and Finland’s future.”
Nevertheless, he said Niinistö was once known as “Putin’s Whisperer” because of his contacts with the Russian leader. Foresight News – But “unfortunately for Russia, little will ever see the light of day between Mr. Stubbe and Mr. Harvist when it comes to the threat posed by Moscow.”
Politico noted that the two leading presidential candidates “both say they will take a tough stance on Russia.” But Stubbs told the site that when he left Finnish politics seven years ago, he thought it would last forever.
“The plan was to do something else with my life,” he said. “Russia’s attack on Ukraine changed my mind.”