The new president will play a central role in shaping Finland’s NATO policy amid growing security concerns with Russia.
Former Prime Minister Alexander Stubbe won the election run-off against former Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto, becoming the next president of Finland and becoming a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).Diplomacy and Security in Northern Europe He was given the responsibility of steering security policy.
As a result of all votes counted on Sunday, center-right member of the National Union Party, Mr Stubb, received 51.6% of the vote, while independent candidate from the Green Left party, Mr Haavisto, received 48.4%. Initial turnout was 70.7%.
Mr Stubb, who began his political career as a member of the European Parliament in 2004, won 27.2% of the votes in the first round of voting on January 28, beating Mr Haavist’s 25.8%. I won. He also leads Harvist in the poll, with a 6-8 point lead in recent years.
Haavisto, 65, admitted defeat after Finnish public broadcaster YLE published a prediction on Sunday night showing a win for Stubb. He shook Mr. Stubb’s hand and congratulated him at Helsinki City Hall. There, candidates and the media watched the announcement of the results.
“This was a fair and great race,” Stubbe told Haavist after the results were known. “I am proud to have run alongside you in this election. Thank you for a good race.”
The vote marks a new turn for Finland, which for decades has elected its president to promote diplomacy, especially with neighboring Russia, and has chosen not to join the military alliance to ease tensions between Russia and NATO. It heralds a new era.
But after Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 and the country joined NATO last April, the Finns changed their mind about playing that role.
The new president, now under the security umbrella of the Western alliance, has earned the nickname “Putin’s Whisperer” for his past close ties with Russian President Vladimir Putin, and is serving two six-year terms. He will succeed Sauli Niinisto, who is retiring after completing his term.
Niinistö’s successor will work closely with the government, lead overall foreign and security policy as commander-in-chief of the armed forces, and play a central role in defining Finland’s NATO policy.
There is no relationship with Russia
Both men campaigned as pro-Europeans and strong supporters of Ukraine, and took tough stances on Russia.
Lauri, a 36-year-old IT worker who voted in Helsinki, cited Russia as the main challenge facing the new president.
“Obviously, we all know we’re in a difficult position, looking at Russia, the whole mess of the world today. So that’s the biggest threat we have, I think that’s the biggest issue,” he told Reuters on Saturday, without mentioning his preferred candidate.
In an interview with the news agency last month, Stubb said there was no Russian pillar in Finland’s foreign policy for the time being.
“Politically speaking, we will have no relations with the Russian president or the Russian political leadership until we stop the war in Ukraine,” he said.
Stubbe favors closer NATO cooperation, including keeping some NATO troops permanently in Finland and allowing nuclear weapons to be transported within the country. However, he does not support storing nuclear weapons in Finland.
“Nuclear weapons are sometimes a guarantee of peace,” Stubb said during Tuesday’s debate.
Russia has threatened to retaliate against Finland’s entry into NATO and the signing of a defense cooperation agreement with the United States in December.
Haavisto, a former foreign minister, UN peace negotiator and known human rights advocate, called for a more cautious approach.
He wants to maintain a ban on nuclear weapons on Finland’s soil and believes that the current security situation does not require the permanent deployment of NATO forces.