National Union Party candidate Alexander Stubbe (left) and social movement candidate Pekka Haavisto received the most primary votes during a presidential election event at Helsinki City Hall on Sunday, January 28, 2024 in Helsinki, Finland. 2 candidates. According to predictions, Mr. Stubb won the first round of the presidential election to set up a runoff election on February 11th. (Markku Ulander/Lehtikuva, via AP)
HELSINKI – Former Prime Minister Alexander Stubbe won the first round of Finland’s presidential election on Sunday and was expected to face runner-up Pekka Haavisto in next month’s run-off.
Finnish public broadcaster YLE predicted that Stubbe would win in the first round of the presidential election with 27.3% of the vote, with former foreign minister Haavisto coming in second with 25.8%. National Assembly Speaker Jussi Halaaho came in third with 18.6%.
With no candidate receiving more than a majority of votes, the projected results will force the race to go to a runoff between Mr. Stubbe and Mr. Haavisto on February 11th.
YLE’s predictions, which have been highly accurate in past elections, are mathematical models calculated based on advance voting and a certain number of Sunday votes, based on official data provided by the Legal Registration Center. Exit polls are not normally used in Finland.
Mr. Stubbe, 55, and Mr. Hervist, 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 significantly different geopolitical and security situation in Europe than that of incumbent Niinistö after the 2018 election.
Finland became NATO’s 31st member state in April, abandoning decades of military non-alignment following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, but Russia’s Vladimir, which shares an 832-mile border with the Nordic nation, This greatly angered President Putin.
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.