Finland: Former PM Alexander Stubb wins high-stakes presidential election

Finland’s centre-right candidate and former Prime Minister Alexander Stubb, on Sunday (Feb 11) won the high-stakes Finnish presidential election after his rival ex-foreign minister and liberal candidate Pekka Haavisto conceded with nearly all the votes counted.

What happened?

The National Coalition Party (NCP) candidate narrowly won defeating liberal Green Party member Haavisto who conceded saying “Well, Alexander. Congratulations to Finland’s 13th president.”

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He added, “I believe Finland now gets a good president for the republic. Alexander Stubb is an experienced, competent person for the job. No more babble.”

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Stubb had declared himself the winner in the run-off vote after securing 51.6 per cent of the votes after 99.7 per cent of ballots had been counted, against Haavisto’s 48.4 per cent, reported Reuters citing justice ministry data.

The pro-European and strong supporter of Ukraine made a return to politics with this election after a seven-year hiatus. “This is the greatest honour of my life,” said Stubb after Haavisto conceded.

The NCP candidate also led the polls after the first round on January 28 with 27.2 per cent of votes, while Haavisto came in a close second with 25.8 per cent of the vote.

High-stakes election

Amid the increased tensions between Finland and neighbouring Russia since the invasion of Ukraine, the election for the Nordic nation came at an unprecedented time.

Helsinki has also recently become a part of NATO and closed its eastern border with Russia, actions which would have been dismissed as an absurd thought a few years ago.

Unlike most European countries, the president of Finland holds executive power in formulating foreign and security policy, including acting as the supreme commander of the country’s armed forces.

Stubb will replace incumbent President Sauli Niinisto, 75, who is required to step down after serving two six-year terms. The 55-year-old willtake office amid severely strainedrelations between Finland and Russia following Moscow’s invasion of Kyiv in 2022.

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Notably, international security and defence were a high priority for Finnish voters. Finland has witnessedan influx of migrants entering through its eastern border without visas and accused Russia of pushing its migrants in a hybrid attack to destabilise it.

Stubb and Haavisto, have both served as foreign ministers and championed Finland’s independence and its new role as a NATO member. They also called for a tough stance towards Russia.

However, Stubb is in favour of deep NATO cooperation including transport of nuclear weapons across Finnish soil and placing some troops of the United States-led alliance in the country permanently. However, he does not support storing nuclear weapons in Finland.

(With inputs from agencies)