There were no changes in the elections: Finns preferred two experienced politicians. conservative Alexander Stubb and green Pekka Haavisto will run for president. A year after the far right joined the Helsinki government of the presidential candidate, Jussi Halla-aho, He came third in the first round of the presidential election and was eliminated in the last round. It will take place on February 11.
According to the results announced after the closure of schools; Stubb ranked first with 28% and Haavisto ranked second with 25%.. Halla-aho was far behind with 16.2%. These are the results for 60% of the votes counted, resulting from the high percentage of voters who had already cast their votes in the previous days, as predicted by the Finnish system.
Between former prime minister Stubb and Haavisto, the head of foreign affairs in the government led by social democrat Sanna Marin, there is also the person who will become the country’s first president. Finland We are already members of NATO. Will replace the conservatives Sauli NiinistöHe will leave the presidency after twelve years and personally conduct the negotiations. Finland’s entry into NATO. presidential office in Finland, foreign and defense policy. In the case of Niinistö, this even involved a personal transformation. As the president’s friend Vladimir Putin Despite threats from the Kremlin, he continued to encourage his country to join the Atlantic Alliance. The trigger was the invasion of Ukraine, which led to a change shared by the majority of citizens and the entire parliamentary spectrum. Finland abandoned the military neutrality line it had maintained since the Cold War and quickly embraced NATO.
In Finland, the presidential position is as follows: commander in chief of the armed forces. It will be the responsibility of Niinistö’s successor to determine the scope of its commitment to NATO, including the deployment of US troops on its territory.
The second presidential round will be held on February 11. Meanwhile, the country will face a strike campaign that could paralyze air transport and parts of public life. There is great dissatisfaction with the austerity line implemented by the conservative Petteri Orpo government, which came to power with the far right in April last year. Real Finns as partners.
Severance, conservative or green version
Stubb, 55 years oldHe is one of Finland’s leading politicians, having served as minister three times (once in European Affairs) between 2014 and 2015, as well as prime minister. He is religious, along with the conservative Petteri Orpo, the current head of government. In the past, he took part in an internal struggle for sovereignty in his party. smelly. Orpo’s victory in the 2023 parliamentary elections against then-prime minister, social democrat Marin, now favors Stubb’s rise to prominence. IHe was away from Finland’s political vanguard for seven yearsrather they focused on community politics within the family of popular Europeans. On the other hand, the political unrest experienced by Finland since Orpo became the head of the far-right coalition led to a series of internal conflicts and explosions of the radical formation, especially in the first phase of this alliance. .
Haavisto, 65 years oldAlthough he is a founding member of the Finnish Greens and has spent his entire career in environmental education, he presents himself as an independent. The decision stems from the aim of expanding the range of choices. So far, no candidate from a minority party like the Greens has won the presidency.
He is a politician highly valued by his citizens, both for his friendly character and for his work as Minister of Foreign Affairs in the government of social democrat Sanna Marin. While Finland was one of the key figures in the NATO membership negotiations, which it achieved in a record time, Sweden, which made a parallel request in this direction due to the influence of the invasion of Ukraine, has not yet been able to complete the process.
This is the third time who is running for president. If he achieves his goal this time, he will become the second president of an EU country Openly gay after Latvian Edgard Rinkevics. Haavisto is married to Antonio Flores, an Ecuadorian who owns a centrally located hair salon in Helsinki, which often makes her marriage the “object” of media attention.