Finland’s presidential vote ended Sunday night, following the second and final round of the country’s presidential vote, which pitted former conservative Prime Minister Alexander Stubbe against Green Party lawmaker Pekka Haavisto, who had decided to run as an independent candidate. Voting ended on . Mr. Stubbe and Mr. Haavisto each served as Finland’s foreign minister at different times.
Approximately 4.3 million people in Finland had the right to vote. However, almost 46% of all voters cast early votes before polling stations opened at 9 a.m. local time (7 p.m. Japan time). Voting ended at 8pm (6pm Japan time).
As the voting period closed, the Ministry of Justice released the tally of votes cast in advance. This meant that Stubb, who had performed best in the first round and was considered the favorite before the vote, had just over 58% of the votes counted, giving him a much narrower lead over Harvist, 52.7% to 47.3%. showed that it is maintained.
Foreign policy experience will be key for both candidates, as the Helsinki government seeks to reorient its security policy after decades of non-alignment. Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Finland applied for NATO membership and became a full-fledged member of the alliance in April last year.
Finland’s move toward NATO has prompted promises of “countermeasures” from Russia, which shares a 1,340-kilometre (830-mile) border.
Where do Mr. Stubbe and Mr. Harvist stand on NATO and Russia?
Both Mr. Stubbe and Mr. Harvist have expressed strong support for Ukraine and called for additional sanctions against Russia.
“The European Union can do more to support Ukraine,” Haavisto said in a televised debate on Thursday.
Mr. Stubb agreed, saying Kiev deserves “all the support we can give them.”
“The path of Ukraine is our path, and now they are fighting for the freedom of Europeans,” the former prime minister said.
However, their views differ on the details of NATO’s defense strategy.
Haavisto believes there is no need for NATO forces to be permanently based in Finland and wants to maintain the country’s strict ban on nuclear weapons.
But while Mr Stubb called for the permanent deployment of troops and permission to transport nuclear weapons into Finland, he also noted that nuclear weapons should not be permanently stored in the Scandinavian country.
“Nuclear weapons are sometimes a guarantee of peace,” Stubb said during Tuesday’s debate.
What’s next for Helsinki and Moscow?
Mr Stubb, who held a modest lead over Mr Haavisto in opinion polls and won the first round, also told Reuters: “Until the war is stopped, I will not have any relationship with the Russian president or the Russian political leadership.” I don’t have it,” he said. In Ukraine. “
Although Russia’s official reaction to Finland’s NATO membership has been muted, Finland registered a large number of migrants crossing its border from Russia last summer.
Helsinki claims the migrants were sent by the Kremlin to destabilize the new North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) member state, and Finnish authorities decided to temporarily close the border in November. did.
DJ/AB (AFP, Reuters)