Former Prime Minister Alexander Stubb won the first round of Finland’s presidential election on Sunday and will face the runner-up, 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.
When all the votes were counted, Stubb led the first round with 27.2% of the vote, followed by Haavisto, Finland’s top diplomat from 2019 to 2023, in second place with 25.8%.
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, this result will force the election into a runoff between Mr. Stubbe and Mr. Haavist on February 11th.
“It’s heartwarming to be able to achieve this result with my team. I’m grateful and humbled by this,” 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. Harvist, 65, were the main candidates in the election.
Some 4.5 million voters chose among nine candidates to succeed the hugely popular President Sauli Niinistö, whose second six-year term expires in March. He was not eligible for re-election.
Polling stations nationwide closed at 8:00 p.m. (8:00 p.m. Japan time). 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 Finnish president has executive power in shaping foreign and security policy, especially when dealing with countries outside the European Union such as the United States, Russia, and China.
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 foreign 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 aid. It was a matter of policy.
Finland’s new head of state will begin his six-year term in March in a markedly different geopolitical and security situation in Europe than that of incumbent Niinistö after the 2018 election.
Abandoning decades of military non-alignment in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Finland became NATO’s 31st member state in April, but Russia’s Vladimir, who shares an 832-mile border with the Nordic nation,・This greatly angered President Putin.
NATO membership has made Finland a frontline state in the Western military alliance against Russia, and the escalating war in Ukraine, just 1,000,600 miles from Finland’s border, has elevated the president’s status as a leader in security policy. Ta.
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 will join NATO in the near future, and Hungary, the last holdout, is expected to ratify the Stockholm offer by the end of February.