Finland has a new President. Former conservative Prime Minister Alexander Stubb won the presidential election on Sunday February 12 against his rival Pekka Haavisto, in a vote marked by tensions with neighboring Russia since the country's accession to NATO.
“Alexander, congratulations to the 13th president of Finland,” PekkaHaavisto, former Minister of Foreign Affairs and member of the Greens, conceded on public television, but who was running as an independent.
Alexander Stubb received 51.7% of the votes, after the counting of 98.3% of the ballots. 70.7% of some 4.3 million voters came to vote in this second round.
“The only thing I think about now is the recognition. This is a big victory for democracy in Finland, I am extremely proud of all the Finns who voted,” reacted Alexander Stubb to the publication of the results provisional.
Strengthening sanctions against Moscow
Endowed with limited powers compared to the Prime Minister, the head of state, elected for six years, directs the country's foreign policy in close cooperation with the government. He is also supreme commander of the armed forces.
A notable role which has become even more important due to geopolitical developments in Europe and the entry into NATO of Finland, which shares 1,340 kilometers of border with Russia.
Neutral during the Cold War, the Nordic country ended three decades of military non-alignment after the invasion of Ukraine. It became a member of the Atlantic Alliance last year, to the great dismay of Russia, which promised to respond with “countermeasures”.
At the end of August, Finland faced an influx of migrants on its eastern border, accusing Moscow of orchestrating a migration crisis on its doorstep. Helsinki closed its border with its neighbor in November, a measure supported by all the candidates.
Also read: Closure of the Finnish border: “The Russian propaganda machine wants to create anxiety”
“The fact that we have just joined NATO is of considerable importance” because the way in which it will be deployed in Finland “will largely be a task for the new president,” notes Theodora Helimaki, political science researcher at the University of Helsinki.
Alexander Stubb and Pekka Haavisto, both former foreign ministers, share the same vision on the position to adopt towards Russia with a strengthening of sanctions against Moscow.
“The international political situation is very difficult for us at the moment and I think we really need a president who can work with the different political parties and who can negotiate,” explained one voter, Maarit Tarkiainen, a doctor from 46 years.
NATO deployment
In 2022, the outgoing president, Sauli Niinistö, elected in 2012 and reputed to be the current European leader to have spoken most regularly with Vladimir Putin, contacted him directly to announce the decision to join NATO .
Since then, there has been radio silence and neither candidate expects a phone call from the Kremlin after the election. “I want (the next president) to be as good as his predecessor,” said a resident of the capital, Joakim Björnström, 36 years old.
The difference between the candidates, both liberals, comes down in particular to the question of the storage and transport of nuclear weapons in Finland.
Pekka Haavisto does not want to authorize them, although as a member of NATO, the Nordic country must participate in exercises relating to the Alliance's nuclear policy.
Alexander Stubb, for his part, estimated that the country should not exclude "any part" of NATO's nuclear deterrence policy.
With AFP
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