Presidential elections in Finland: key duel between Stubb and Haavisto amid tensions with Russia and NATO

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Presidential elections in Finland: key duel between Stubb and Haavisto amid tensions with Russia and NATO

The Finns are gearing up to elect their president this Sunday, a position whose importance has grown since the country joined NATO due to tensions with its neighbor Russia over the war in Ukraine.

With polling stations in the northern European country, which shares 1,340 km of borders with Russia, opening at 9:00 a.m. and closing at 8:00 p.m., it is expected that official data of the count will be made public shortly after the voting centers close, corresponding to early voting.

Analysts estimate that participation could exceed that registered in the first round, when 75% of Finns residing in the Nordic country cast their vote and only 16.1% of those living in other countries.

About 4.3 million voters will have to choose between the former conservative prime minister, Alexander Stubb, and the former head of diplomacy, Pekka Haavisto.

Stubb won the first round of the elections on January 28 with 27.2% of the votes, ahead of Haavisto, who obtained 25.8%. Haavisto is running as an independent candidate despite being a member of the Green party.

The head of state, with fewer powers than the prime minister, is elected for a six-year term and directs the country’s foreign policy in close collaboration with the government. He is also the supreme commander of the Armed Forces.

Its role has grown in importance since the war in Ukraine and Finland’s entry into NATO, to which Russia promised to respond with “countermeasures.”

In August, Finland accused Moscow of orchestrating a migrant crisis on its borders and decided to close its border with Russia in November, a move supported by both candidates.

“The fact that we have just joined NATO is of considerable importance,” analyzes Theodora Helimaki, a political science researcher at the University of Helsinki.

A poll conducted by public television Yle gave Stubb 54% of the votes, compared to 46% for Haavisto. The new president, according to Helimäki, will be “largely” responsible for the way the alliance will be deployed in the country.

Both candidates served as former foreign ministers and share the same vision on the stance to adopt towards Russia. Stubb belongs to the conservative Kokoomus party, while Haavisto does not want to authorize the storage and transportation of nuclear weapons in Finland, unlike Stubb who believes that the country should not exclude “any part” of the alliance’s nuclear deterrence policy.