Wednesday, November 27, 2024

Finland goes to vote in first presidential election after joining NATO – Irish Times

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Finns will vote on Sunday to choose a new president for his new role within NATO, after Finland ended decades of non-alignment and joined the Western defense alliance following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. I headed.

The Nordic country joined NATO last year, prompting threats of “countermeasures” from its much larger neighbor. In December, Finland closed its entire border with Russia to passenger traffic in response to a surge in migrants attempting to cross the border. The Russian government denied the charges against Finland, which was sending the migrants.

All nine candidates have pledged to take a tough stance against Russia if elected president, and their role will be to work closely with the government to lead foreign and security policy and to support NATO. He will represent the country at the conference and at the same time serve as Russia’s supreme commander. Finnish Defense Forces.

Alexander Stubbe of the center-right National Union has emerged as the frontrunner, with recent opinion polls showing him receiving 22-27% support in the first round, ahead of Pekka Haavisto of the liberal Green Party. This is slightly more than 20-23%. .

Jussi Halaaho of the nationalist Finnish Party is not far behind Haavisto, with 15-18%.

According to data from the Ministry of Justice, almost 45% of eligible voters, or 1.9 million Finns, had cast early votes ahead of Sunday, with early voting starting as soon as polls close after 6pm Irish time. It is expected that partial results will be revealed.

In Helsinki, one of the early voters, Lina Bokša, 26, said it was especially important to vote this time, given the war in Ukraine and the difficult situation it had created.

He said Stubb, who is seen by Finns as internationally pro-European, was the right person to lead the country’s foreign policy at this time.

“I voted for Alexander Stubbe because I think he is very good at dealing with other countries and has good relationships with people outside of Finland,” he said as he accompanied a friend to the polls on Sunday. said Bokusha, who was out with her baby.

Jere Markkinen, a 22-year-old mechanical engineering student, took a different view.

“I do not think so [Stubb] Markkinen added that he had voted for Haavisto in advance and said he would make a very good president because he seems to want to represent himself rather than the people.

“He has experience in foreign politics and is known for generally acting smartly, unlike other candidates.”

The other six candidates, who cross political lines, include Bank of Finland Governor Olli Rehn and Social Democratic European Union Commissioner Jutta Ulpilainen.

If no more than 50 percent of the votes are cast on Sunday, a runoff election will be held between the first and second candidates on February 11th.

Prospective second round contestants must be out by 8pm Irish time unless the result is close.

The new president will replace the 75-year-old incumbent Sauli Niinistö, who will have to step down after two six-year terms.

During his tenure, he earned the nickname “Putin’s Whisperer” for his role in maintaining close ties with Russia, which has long been an important role for Finland’s president. – Reuters



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