HELSINKI (AP) – Finns will vote on Sunday to elect a new president at an unprecedented time. The Nordic country is now a nation. NATO Member states joined in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the closure of its eastern border with Russia, both of which were almost unthinkable a few years ago.
Unlike most European countries, the President of Finland has executive powers to set foreign and security policy. Especially when dealing with countries outside the European Union Like America, Russia, China.
“It is clear that the president’s main task is to steer foreign policy,” said Teivo Teivainen, a professor of world politics at the University of Helsinki.
Approximately 4.5 million people are eligible to vote for Finland’s new head of state from among nine candidates, six men and three women, whose second six-year term expires in March. President Sauli Niinistö, who is extremely popular, can choose his successor. He is not eligible for re-election.
Recent opinion polls show former Prime Minister Alexander Stubb, 55, and former Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto, 65, as the frontrunners in Sunday’s first round of voting. No candidate is expected to receive more than 50% of the vote, and the campaign will move to a run-off in February.
Mr Stubb, who led Finland’s government in 2014-2015, and Mr Haavisto, who is running for the third time, are both estimated to receive 23-27% of the vote, followed by Mr Jussi, the speaker of parliament and a far-right politician. About 18% of idiots. Olli Rehn, Governor of the Bank of Finland, was expected to receive around 14% of the vote.
A quick look at the map shows why foreign and security policy are important political topics in this northern European country of 5.6 million people. Finland shares her 1,340 km (832 miles) border with Russia.
Candidate debates on television and in media coverage mainly focus on Finland’s new role as a member state. NATO, as well as the situation in neighboring Russia and its impact on Finland’s security. Finland is one of Europe’s top providers of military and humanitarian aid to Kiev, and the war in Ukraine, as well as the war between Israel and Hamas in the Middle East, are also important topics in the election campaign.
Professor Teivainen said that the overall influence of the head of state in Finland has strengthened due to NATO membership and the increased importance of security issues in recent years, especially due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which has had a severe impact on Finns. He said that
Helsinki will join NATO along with its Nordic neighbor Sweden in May 2022, abandoning decades of military non-alignment that guaranteed pragmatic and friendly relations with Moscow after World War II. selected. This government decision, supported by Niinistö and strongly supported by the people, was a direct result of Russia’s attack on Ukraine, which began on February 24 of the same year.
Finland became the 31st member of the Western military alliance last April, much to the annoyance of Russia and President Vladimir Putin.
The escalation of war just 1,000 kilometers (600 miles) from Finland’s border, a NATO member, has prompted the president, who is also the supreme commander of Finland’s armed forces, to “emphasize security policy aspects” in his mission. “We are working hard,” Teivainen said.
“The threat of war is now more concrete,” he says.
Compared to the last election in 2018, Finland’s geopolitical position, which has maintained a careful balance between East and West for decades, has changed completely, with presidential candidates It focuses on the new role of the nation as a nation. NATO frontline country.
Under the Finnish constitution, the president decides foreign and security policy together with the government. He also appoints the prime minister and government commissioners, signs bills, and acts as the nation’s moral leader on important issues.
The practice, which has been the norm during the reign of Finnish President Niinisto since 2012, is that the prime minister (currently Petteri Orupo) focuses on EU issues in the field of foreign policy, while the president deals with negotiations with other countries and deals with domestic issues. is hardly involved. Politics.
Mr. Niinistö is seeking dialogue with his compatriots in Moscow, Washington and Beijing to maintain close ties and help the Nordic country punch above its weight and draw attention to its position. , has earned praise among Finns.
Since Moscow’s attack on Ukraine began about two years ago, relations between the Finnish president and President Putin have ceased. Moscow harasses Finland with various retaliatory measures This is clearly due to increased military cooperation between NATO members and Washington in Helsinki, which faces a range of threats from cyber attacks to the threat of increased Russian military activity in the Baltic Sea region.
Niinistö told Finnish public broadcaster YLE earlier this month: “It is extremely important to maintain ties not only with the United States but also with China and, as soon as it becomes practical, with Russia.” .
Finland late last year closed the border with Russia Just a few months after Finland joined NATO, about 1,300 migrants without proper documents or visas arrived across the border.
Such “hybrid warfare” has led Helsinki to suspect that Moscow is trying to undermine Northern Europe’s security by sending illegal immigrants across its borders, a claim the Kremlin denies. .
Finland serves as the northern outer border of the European Union and is an important part of NATO’s northeastern flank.
Since December 15, all eight Finnish-Russian border crossings have been closed to passengers. The South East Railway checkpoint for freight trains at Vainikkala remains open for now.