Mr. Stubbe and Mr. Haavisto to face Finnish presidential run-off election

On January 28, the second round of the Finnish presidential election was held against the backdrop of worsening relations with neighboring Russia, and favorites Alexander Stubbe and Pekka Haavisto were elected.

According to election officials, when all votes were counted, conservative former Prime Minister Alexander Stubb had secured 27.2% of the votes, while former Green Party Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto, who is running as an independent, had secured 25.8%. .

Voter turnout was 71.5%.

The two candidates will face off in the run-off election on February 11th.

“I’m confident that whoever we face in the second round will be able to have a good, constructive and civilized discussion about the difficult issues of foreign policy,” Stubb told public television. eel Before.

Although the president’s powers are limited, the head of state, who also serves as commander-in-chief of the Finnish armed forces, works with the government and helps direct foreign policy. This means that the changing geopolitical situation in Europe will be the biggest concern for the winners.

Hanna Ojanen, director of political studies at Tampere University, said: “Foreign policy experience may be what people were looking for when they saw the two people moving on to the next round.” AFP Now that the results are clear.

In the lead-up to the vote, experts believed that Jussi Halaaho, a candidate from the far-right Finland Party, might advance to the second round. In the end, it came in 3rd place with 19% of the votes.

said voter Hannu Kushti. AFP This country needed a president with leadership and humanity.

“Of course you have to be tough when you need to be,” he added.

Finland ended its decades-long military non-alignment relationship and joined NATO in April 2023 after relations between Moscow and Helsinki soured following Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

Russia, which shares a 1,340-kilometre (830-mile) border with Finland, immediately warned of “countermeasures.”

humans as weapons

By August 2023, Finland observed an influx of migrants entering the country through its eastern border without visas.

Helsinki claimed Moscow was pushing hybrid attacks on migrants to destabilize and Finland closed its eastern border in November.

“We are now in a situation where Russia, especially President Vladimir Putin, is using humans as weapons,” Stubb said in the final televised debate Thursday night.

“This is an immigration issue and a callous and cynical measure. In that case, we must put Finland’s safety first,” he added.

Haavisto stressed that Finland needs to “send a clear message to Russia that this cannot continue.”

After the Cold War, Helsinki maintained good relations with Moscow.

Incumbent President Sauli Niinistö, who is retiring after two six-year terms, was proud of his close relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin, but has since become one of Putin’s harshest critics. became.

Against this backdrop, presidential candidates are defending both Finland’s independence and its new role as a NATO member, said Hanna Wass, deputy dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences at the University of Helsinki.

“They all seem to have strong ideas about self-sufficiency,” Wass said. AFP. Both candidates added that they believed Finland should “actively contribute to building a common European defense and Nordic cooperation.”

Tuomas Forsberg, a foreign policy professor at Tampere University, said a similar stance would lead to more emphasis on candidate character in elections.

“This is more about selecting an individual, and we’re going to look at that person’s credibility and trustworthiness and their perceived qualities as a foreign policy leader,” Forsberg said.

experienced realist

Mr. Stubbe served as Prime Minister of Finland from 2014 to 2015, and Mr. Haavisto held several cabinet positions.

“They’re both very experienced, pragmatic politicians who know what they’re talking about,” Ojanen said.

“It will be interesting to see what kind of discussions are made to clarify the differences between the two,” she added.

Forsberg noted that although Haavisto and Stubbe share similar political views, they represent different backgrounds.

“Aleks is more of a representative of the right, and Mr. Haavist is a representative of the left, even if he chooses the center as a Green Party,” Forsberg said.

A second round of voting could prove decisive in the election debate, he added.

“The differences will become clearer as the campaign progresses,” Haavist said. eel Sunday evening.