Former Prime Minister Stubb becomes the new President of Finland

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New Finnish President Alexander Stubb: Joy on election night

Photo: Heikki Saukkomaa / Lehtikuva / IMAGO

Former Prime Minister Alexander Stubb becomes the new President of Finland. The 55-year-old narrowly defeated his opponent Pekka Haavisto in a runoff election for the presidency. After 99 percent of the votes were counted, Stubb had 51.7 percent of the vote and Haavisto had 48.3 percent.

Immediately after the publication of a reliable projection by the Finnish radio station Yle, Haavisto congratulated Stubb on his election victory. Stubb said it was the greatest honor of his life. The office of president is a job that is bigger than one person. He feels calm and humble, but at the same time infinitely happy and grateful.

A preliminary final result should be known during the election evening. Polls had predicted that the conservative Stubb would have a clearer lead before election day.

President elected directly by the people

In the first round of elections two weeks ago, Stubb and his Green opponent Haavisto received the most votes of all nine candidates. In doing so, they eliminated other heavyweights in Finnish politics such as the right-wing populist parliament speaker Jussi Halla-aho and the former EU currency commissioner Olli Rehn. Stubb received 27.2 percent of the vote, Haavisto 25.8 percent. However, because none of the candidates achieved an absolute majority, there was a runoff between the two strongest candidates.

The new president will succeed the previous head of state Sauli Niinistö and will take office as scheduled on March 1st. Niinistö was not allowed to run again after two six-year terms. Under the impression of Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine, he led Finland into NATO after decades of military freedom from alliances.

Unlike in Germany, the president in Finland is elected directly by the people and he also plays a more active role in politics than in many other European countries. His most important tasks include deciding on foreign and security policy together with the government, appointing members of the government and approving laws. He is also Commander-in-Chief of the Finnish Armed Forces. However, he largely stays out of domestic politics.

Finland borders Russia for a length of 1,340 kilometers. With regard to its large neighbor to the east, the EU country had been trying for a long time to find an appropriate East-West balance. However, as a result of the Russian war against Ukraine and the subsequent Finnish accession to NATO, relations with Moscow have deteriorated drastically. The crossings along the Russian-Finnish border have been closed for several months, and just a few days ago the Finnish government extended this measure until mid-April. The Finnish government accuses the Russian authorities of deliberately bringing asylum seekers to the border without the necessary documents in order to cause problems for Finland.

Both Stubb and Haavisto are considered pro-European and strong supporters of Ukraine. The election was therefore not expected to have any major impact on Finland's Russia policy.

kfr/dpa