alexander stubbe
Alexander Stubbe of the National Coalition Party (NCP) narrowly defeated Pekka Haavisto of the Liberal Green Party. In Sunday’s runoff election, Mr. Stubbe received 51.6% of the vote and Mr. Harvist received 48.4%.
Stubb became president when Finland broke its traditional diplomatic neutrality and joined the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), a Western military alliance against Russia. Finland made a strategic break with Russia after President Vladimir Putin ordered the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
That was Stubb’s predecessor, Sauli Niinist, who was once so close to Putin that he was nicknamed “Putin’s Whisperer.” Niinisto resigned after serving two six-year terms as president.
In interviews during last month’s campaign, Mr. Stubb was adamant about what position he would take toward Russia as president. “Politically, we have no ties to the Russian president or the Russian political leadership until we stop the war in Ukraine,” Stubb said. Mr Stubb is open to the idea of allowing nuclear weapons to be transported within Finland and keeping NATO troops permanently stationed in the country. Russia had threatened to retaliate against Finland over its NATO membership and December defense pact with the United States.
Finns are very concerned about the situation in Europe and the war in Ukraine. They seem to have felt that it was no longer possible to remain neutral and act as an intermediary between Russia and other European countries. And they seem to feel secure in military alliances with Europe and the United States. Russia appears to be alienating its longtime neighbor because of the war in Ukraine. When Russians who wanted to avoid military service began to migrate to Finland, there were many suspicions.
European countries are not going to give Ukraine anything more than military and financial aid. They had no intention of allowing Ukraine to join NATO, which actually triggered the Ukraine war. Finland’s sympathy for Ukraine will also be limited to providing aid.
Changing the security situation in Europe is that apart from Finland’s NATO military bases, the United States also wants to deploy missiles in the country, which has a long border with Russia. Neither the United States nor Europe intends to go to war with Russia, but tensions between the two countries will increase.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine persuaded two Scandinavian countries, Sweden and Finland, to break their neutrality and apply to join NATO. Sweden is waiting for the green light from Türkiye and Hungary. Turkey refused to cooperate, but agreed because NATO decisions are based on consensus.
With Finland becoming an ally of the West, Russia lost Finland’s buffer state between Russia and the West. This shows that European countries, despite deep cultural and political differences, perceive Russia to be a major threat to European peace and security. Lauri, 36, a Finnish IT worker, told news agency Reuters. So I think that’s the biggest threat and the biggest problem that we have. ”
The war in Ukraine has now been going on for nearly two years, with no end in sight. Ukraine is fighting hard but cannot defeat Russia. And Russia is not in a position to declare victory over Ukraine. It is a war that damages both countries.