In Finland, former Conservative Prime Minister Stubb is just ahead of former Green Foreign Minister Haavisto. There will be a second round.

Pekka Haavisto (left) and Alexander Stubb on election night in Helsinki Photo: Markku Ulander/Lehtikuva/ap

SEDAN taz | The predictions have come true: in the Finnish presidential election, the candidate of the ruling conservative coalition party (KOK), Alexander Stubb, won 27.2 percent of the vote. Green Pekka Haavisto came in second with 25.8 percent, followed by Jussi Halla-Aho of the far-right Finnish Party with 19 percent. Voter turnout was almost 75 percent, significantly higher than in 2018 (66.8 percent).

Nine applicants participated. Since no candidate received more than 50 percent, a runoff between the two highest-ranked candidates will be held on February 11. The current head of state, Sauli Niinistö, was not allowed to run again after two terms.

The vote, the first since Finland joined NATO on April 4, 2023, was also dominated by Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine. This is perceived as a real threat in Finland, which has a 1,300 kilometer border with Ukraine.

Currently all border crossings with Russia are closed. Helsinki responded to a growing number of illegal border crossings last fall. According to the government, Moscow deliberately promotes and exploits this situation and represents a threat to Finland's national security.

Foreign Policy Heavyweights

The tough approach towards the neighbor was also the consensus among all the candidates. With Alexander Stubb and Pekka Haavisto, two foreign policy heavyweights are now in the race for the highest state office. Stubb served, among other things, as foreign minister and head of government before retiring from Finnish politics in 2017. Haavisto served as foreign minister under Social Democratic Prime Minister Sanna Marin. His government was ousted from power in April last year.

The fairly quiet election campaign of recent weeks could now gain some momentum. Of course, it was nice to finish first after the first round, but it will all start Monday morning, Stubb, 55, told reporters on election night.

On his rival Haavisto, ten years his senior, Stubb told Finnish state broadcaster Yle that their views were similar. However, the Finns “were looking for a president for a new era.” Haavisto said the candidates' positions could diverge and differences would arise between them. “Full speed ahead to the second round. Voters will not look at partisan politics,” but rather who can lead Finland “with a firm and sure hand,” Haavisto said.

According to Åsa von Schoultz, a political scientist at the University of Helsinki, who writes in the American newspaper political As cited, Stubb and Haavisto will now be examined more closely and compared to each other. This will definitely be different than before the first round of voting.