The Nordic nation’s new president will lead Finland as a NATO member amid tensions with Russia.
Finns will vote to elect a new president who will take the country into a new role within NATO after Finland ended decades of non-alignment and joined the Western defense alliance following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. I’m heading towards
All nine candidates have pledged to take a tough stance on Russia if elected president. The role requires working closely with the government to lead foreign and security policy, representing the country at NATO meetings, and also serving 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% to 18%.
Bank of Finland Governor Olli Rehn and Social Democratic European Union Commissioner Jutta Ulpilainen are also among the six other candidates from across the political spectrum.
Nearly 45% of eligible voters, or 1.9 million Finns, had cast early votes by Sunday, according to data from the Ministry of Justice. Partial results, consisting of preliminary voting, are expected to be announced immediately after voting closes at 8pm (Japan time).
If no one can decide even if they receive 50% or more of the votes in the first round, a runoff election will be held between the first and second candidates on February 11th.
war in ukraine
In Helsinki, one early voter, Lina Bokša, 26, told Reuters it was especially important to vote in the election because of the war in Ukraine and the difficult situation it had created. .
Boksha said Stubb, who is seen by Finns as a cosmopolitan and pro-European man, is 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,” she told a friend who was going to vote on Sunday. said Boksha, who had gone out with her baby to accompany her.
Jere Markkinen, a 22-year-old mechanical engineering student, took a different view.
“He doesn’t think so.” [Stubb] Markkinen told Reuters he would make a very good president, adding that he had voted for Haavisto in advance, as he seemed to want to represent himself and not the people. .
“He has experience in foreign politics and is known for generally acting smartly, unlike other candidates.”
Finland’s entry into NATO last year also exposed it to the threat of “countermeasures” from its much larger neighbor Russia. 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.
In a televised press conference on Thursday, Stubb said that Finland was currently “involved in Russia, especially [Russian President] Vladimir Putin uses humans as weapons. ”
“This is an immigration issue and a callous and cynical measure. In that case, we must prioritize the safety of Finland,” he added.
Main rival Haavisto stressed that Finland needed to “send a clear message to Russia that this cannot continue”.
Finland’s new president will replace the 75-year-old incumbent Sauli Niinisto, 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.