HELSINKI – Former Prime Minister Alexander Stubb won the first round of Finland’s presidential election on Sunday and will face runner-up and former Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto in next month’s run-off. .
The focus of the vote was the Nordic countries’ new role as NATO frontline states with Russia and the security situation in Europe.
With 99.8 percent of votes counted, Stubb won the first round with 27.2 percent of the vote, followed by Haavisto in second place with 25.8 percent. In third place was Parliament Speaker Jussi Halaaho with 19%, followed by Olli Rehn, Governor of the Bank of Finland, with 15.3%.
The results of the first round of elections will be officially decided on Tuesday. Since no candidate received more than a majority of votes, the result will force the race to a runoff between Mr. Stubbe and Mr. Hervist on February 11th.
“It’s heartwarming to be able to achieve this result with my team. I’m grateful and humbled,” Stubbe told reporters and supporters at an election party at a restaurant in Helsinki. He added that he was not planning any major changes to his campaign for the second round.
Mr. Stubbe, 55, and Mr. Hervist, 65, were the main candidates in the election. Some 4.5 million voters chose a successor from a field of nine candidates to replace the hugely popular President Sauli Niinistö, whose second six-year term expires in March. He was not eligible for re-election.
Initial turnout was 74.9%.
Stubbe represents the Conservative National Union Party, which led Finland’s government from 2014 to 2015, while Haavisto, a veteran politician and former UN diplomat and member of the Green League, is running as an independent candidate for the third time.
Unlike most European countries, the President of Finland has executive powers in formulating foreign and security policy, especially as it relates to countries outside the European Union.
The President also serves as the Supreme Commander of the Finnish Armed Forces, a particularly important task in the current European security environment.
The main themes of the election were diplomatic and security issues, including Finland’s recent membership in NATO, future policy toward Russia, increased security cooperation with the United States, and the need to continue supporting Ukraine both militarily and with humanitarian assistance. It was a matter of policy.
Finland’s new head of state will begin his six-year term in March in a significantly different geopolitical and security situation in Europe than that of incumbent Niinistö after the 2018 election.
Abandoning decades of military non-alignment after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Finland became NATO’s 31st member state in April, but Russia’s Vladimir Putin, who shares an 832-mile border with the Nordic nation, This greatly angered the president.
Finland’s entry into NATO, which has made it the Western military alliance’s frontline state against Russia, and the escalating war in Ukraine, just 600 miles from Finland’s border, have elevated the president’s status as a leader in security policy.
As foreign minister, Haavisto signed Finland’s historic NATO accession treaty last year and played a key role in the accession process alongside Niinistö and former Prime Minister Sanna Marin.
Finland’s western neighbor Sweden is set to join NATO in the near future, and Hungary, the last holdout, is expected to ratify its bid for Stockholm by the end of February.