National Union presidential candidate Alexander Stubbe comments on early voting results during a presidential election night rally at Helsinki City Hall, Finland, on January 28, 2024. Photo credit: Markku Ulander/Lehtikuva via Reuters
HELSINKI (AP) – Former Prime Minister Alexander Stubb won the first round of Finland’s presidential election on Sunday and will face runner-up Pekka Haavisto in next month’s run-off.
The vote mainly focused on the Nordic countries’ new role as NATO frontline states with Russia, and on the security situation in Europe, especially on Russia’s attack on Ukraine.
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After all votes were counted, Stubb came first in the first round with 27.2% of the votes, while Haavisto, Finland’s top diplomat from 2019 to 2023, came in second with 25.8%. In third place was Parliament Speaker Jussi Halaaho with 19%, followed by Olli Rehn, Governor of the Bank of Finland, with 15.3%.
The results of the first round of voting will be officially decided on Tuesday. Since no candidate received more than a majority of votes, the result will force the race to a runoff between Mr. Stubbe and Mr. Hervist on February 11th.
“It’s heartwarming to be able to achieve this result with my team. I’m grateful and humbled,” Stubbe told supporters at an election party at a restaurant in Helsinki, looking ahead to the second round of voting. He added that he was not planning any major changes to his campaign. About voting.
Mr. Stubbe, 55, and Mr. Hervist, 65, were the main candidates in the election. Some 4.5 million voters chose a successor from a field of nine candidates to replace the hugely popular President Sauli Niinistö, whose second six-year term expires in March. He was not eligible for re-election.
Initial turnout was 74.9%.
Mr Stubb represents the conservative National Union Party, led the Finnish government from 2014 to 2015 and previously held other key cabinet positions, and is a political veteran, former UN diplomat and Green League member. Mr. Haavisto is a former United Nations diplomat and is running for the position for the third time. Independent Candidate.
Unlike most European countries, the Finnish president has executive power in shaping foreign and security policy, especially when dealing with countries outside the European Union such as the United States, Russia, and China.
The President also serves as Supreme Commander of the Finnish Armed Forces, a particularly important task in the current European security environment.
The main themes of the election were foreign and security issues, including Finland’s recent membership in NATO, future policy toward Russia, increased security cooperation with the United States, and the need to continue supporting Ukraine with both military and humanitarian aid. It was a matter of policy.
Finland’s new head of state will begin his six-year term in March in a significantly different geopolitical and security situation in Europe than that of incumbent Niinistö after the 2018 election.
Finland became NATO’s 31st member state in April, abandoning decades of military non-alignment following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, but Russia has a 1,340-kilometre (832-mile) border with the Nordic countries. This greatly annoyed President Vladimir Putin.
Finland’s entry into NATO, which has made it the Western military alliance’s frontline country against Russia, and the escalating war in Ukraine, just 1,000 kilometers from Finland’s border, have elevated the president’s status as a leader in security policy.
As a general rule, the president represents Finland at NATO summits.
As foreign minister, Haavisto signed Finland’s historic NATO accession treaty last year and played a key role in the accession process alongside Niinistö and former Prime Minister Sanna Marin.
Finland’s western neighbor Sweden is set to join NATO in the near future, and Hungary, the last holdout, is expected to ratify its bid for Stockholm by the end of February.
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National Union presidential candidate Alexander Stubbe comments on early voting results during a presidential election night rally at Helsinki City Hall, Finland, on January 28, 2024. Photo credit: Markku Ulander/Lehtikuva via Reuters