Conservative Alexander Stubb wins Finnish presidential election

Former Prime Minister Alexander Stubb, leader of the center-right National Coalition, has won in the second round of the Finnish presidential elections this Sunday against the liberal of the Green Party Pekka Haavisto.

According to provisional data from the Ministry of Justice and with 99.7% of the ballots counted, Stubb has won by a very narrow margin, with 51.6% of the support, compared to 48.4% for Haavisto.

Stubb has received the results with a moderate tone: “It is the greatest honor of my life.

The task of being President of the Republic surpasses the person,” he stated.

The vote marks a new era in Finland, which for decades has elected presidents to foster diplomacy, particularly with neighboring Russia, and has opted not to join military alliances in order to calm tensions between Moscow and NATO.

The Finns completely changed their foreign, security and defense policy after the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022 and joined the Atlantic Alliance in April last year.

The head of state in Finland has some executive functions in the field of international and security policy, in coordination with the government in power, which is now a coalition of conservatives and far-right headed by Prime Minister Petteri Orpo, from the same party that Stubb.

The president deals with issues related to non-EU countries, such as Russia, China or the United States.

In addition, he is the Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces and represents Finland at NATO summits.

Stubb, 55, was head of the Government between 2014 and 2015 and has headed three ministries (European Affairs, Foreign Affairs and Economy).

He is perceived as a cosmopolitan and fervent Europeanist by a large part of the citizenry, and during the campaign he has distanced himself from the extreme right.

The new president will replace Sauli Niinisto, also from the National Coalition, who is retiring after completing two six-year terms in which he earned the nickname of

Putin's whisperer

for his close ties with the Russian leader, before becoming one of his fiercest critics.

Niinisto's successor will have a central role in defining Finnish policy towards NATO.

Stubb and Haavisto were the candidates with the most experience in foreign and defense policy of the nine who ran in the first round of the January 28 elections.

The former prime minister then won with 27.2% of the votes, ahead of the environmentalist, with 25.8%.

The far-right Finnish Party, the second parliamentary force, was far from going to the second round.

Its candidate, Jussi Halla-aho, president of the Eduskunta (Parliament), obtained 19% of the votes.

Both candidates are strong supporters of Ukraine who have taken a tough stance toward Russia in their campaigns.

In an interview with Reuters last month, the leader of the National Coalition assured that there will be no Russian pillar in Finland's foreign policy: “Politically, there will be no relations with the president of Russia or with the Russian political leaders and until they stop the war in Ukraine.”

Stubb favors deep cooperation with NATO, such as allowing the transport of nuclear weapons through Finnish soil and stationing some Alliance troops permanently in Finland.

Russia, which shares a 1,340 kilometer border with Finland, has threatened Helsinki with retaliation for its accession to NATO and a defense cooperation agreement signed with the United States in December.

In addition to numerous cyberattacks of which the Finnish authorities accuse the Kremlin, the Finnish Government blames the Russian for the arrival of hundreds of asylum seekers from the Middle East and the Horn of Africa, and has kept the eight border posts closed since mid-December with the neighbour.

Haavisto, former Minister of Foreign Affairs in the Executive headed by the social democrat Sanna Marin, between 2019 and 2023, is the historical leader of the Green League but on this occasion - it is the third time that he has presented himself and that he has reached the second round - he has presented as independent to expand his electorate.

65 years old and openly gay, he has been a diplomat at the UN and is known for his firmness in defending human rights.

Haavisto, one of the architects of Finland's rapid entry into NATO, has defended maintaining the ban on having nuclear weapons on Finnish soil and considers a permanent deployment of Atlantic Alliance troops unnecessary in the current security situation.

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