Projection: Former Prime Minister Stubb will become the new Finnish President America is lost – these more than twenty cartoons show what is happening now

Former Prime Minister Alexander Stubb becomes the new president of Finland. The 55-year-old narrowly defeated his 65-year-old opponent Pekka Haavisto on Sunday in the second election for the presidency. After 99 percent of the votes were counted, Stubb had 51.7 percent of the vote and Haavisto 48.3 percent.

Immediately after the publication of a reliable projection from the Finnish radio station Yle, Haavisto congratulated Stubb on his election victory. Stubb said it was the greatest honor of his life. The office of president is a job that is bigger than one person. He feels calm and humble, but at the same time infinitely happy and grateful.

A provisional final result should be known on election night. Opinion polls had predicted Stubb would have a clearer lead before Election Day.

In the first round of voting two weeks ago, Stubb and Haavisto received the most votes of all nine candidates. In doing so, they eliminated other heavyweights in Finnish politics, such as the right-wing populist parliament speaker Jussi Halla-aho and the former EU currency commissioner Olli Rehn. Stubb received 27.2 percent of the votes, Haavisto 25.8 percent. However, because none of the candidates obtained an absolute majority, a second round was held between the two strongest candidates.

The new president will succeed previous head of state Sauli Niinistö and will take office on March 1 as planned. Niinistö was no longer allowed to stand as a candidate after two six-year terms. Impressed by Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, he led Finland to NATO after decades of military freedom from the alliance – with the active support of Haavisto, who as then Foreign Minister under Prime Minister Sanna Marin signed the Nordic country’s NATO. joining certificate in April 2023.

Unlike in Germany, the president in Finland is directly elected by the people and also plays a more active role in politics than in many other European countries. Its main tasks include determining foreign and security policy together with the government, appointing government members and approving laws. He is also Commander-in-Chief of the Finnish Armed Forces. However, he largely stays out of domestic politics.

Finland borders Russia over a length of 1,340 kilometers. As for its large neighbor to the east, the EU country has long tried to find an appropriate east-west balance. However, as a result of Russia’s war against Ukraine and Finland’s subsequent accession to NATO, relations with Moscow have deteriorated drastically. The border crossings along the Russian-Finnish border have been closed for several months; just a few days ago the Finnish government extended this measure until mid-April. The Finnish government accuses Russian authorities of deliberately bringing asylum seekers to the border without the necessary documents in order to cause problems for Finland.

Both Stubb and Haavisto are considered pro-European and strong supporters of Ukraine. The elections were therefore not expected to have any major impact on Finland’s Russia policy.

(dabbing/sda/dpa)