Finland’s centre-right former Prime Minister Alexander Stubbe will be sworn in as the country’s next president after winning a run-off against rival Pekka Haavisto in the most high-stakes presidential election in a generation.
Mr Stubb, of the National Union Party, declared victory on Sunday night, and Mr Harvist of the Green Party, a former foreign minister who is running as an independent, congratulated him.
With a vote count of 99.4%, Mr. Stubb received 51.6% of the votes and Mr. Haavist received 48.4%. Almost half (about 46%) of voters allowed to vote early did so, according to official data.
Mr Stubb, 55, said the role would be the “greatest honor” of his life. Moreover, he added, “The task of the President of the Republic is larger than a human being.”
Mr. Harvist, who conceded just before 9 p.m. local time but had already fallen behind in early voting, shook Mr. Stubb’s hand, expressed his gratitude and wished him “a successful job.”
Mr. Stubbe, 55, was born in Helsinki, is a member of the European Parliament, a member of the Finnish parliament, served as prime minister from 2014 to 2015, and also served as a minister.
Outside of politics, he works as vice president of the European Investment Bank, as a professor at the EU University in Florence, and is an avid triathlete.
He has two adult children with his British-Finnish wife, lawyer Suzanne Ines Stubbe.
He will succeed two-term President Sauli Niinistö, who oversaw the country’s entry into NATO. In the first round of voting two weeks ago, Mr. Stubbe and Mr. Haavisto won 27.2% and 25.8% of the votes, respectively, with nine voters including Jussi Halaaho of the far-right Finland Party, who came in third place. led the candidates.
The frenetic final days of the campaign brought the candidates’ personal lives and attitudes toward nuclear weapons into sharp relief. Mr Haavisto, who is seeking to become the country’s first Green party president and its first gay president, questioned why his sexuality had been in the spotlight in recent days.
The 65-year-old said he was surprised that his sexuality had become a public concern in the second and final round, adding that journalists, particularly those at national broadcaster Yell, were “sparking” debate around it. Told. .
The President of Finland is the head of state and supreme commander of the armed forces and is responsible for foreign policy in cooperation with the government.
International security and defense have become top priorities for Finnish voters amid accusations that Russia has instigated “hybrid operations” on Russia and Finland’s shared border, leading Finland to temporarily close its entire border. ing. Mr. Stubb said that foreign policy and security are existential issues for Finland.
“For Finland, foreign policy and security policy are existential matters,” he told the Guardian at the beginning of the election campaign.
Nuclear weapons became a central topic, as did public debates about Herbist sexuality.
Mr Stubb is in favor of allowing nuclear weapons to be transported within the country, while Mr Haavisto, who previously worked as a UN peace negotiator, wants to keep Finland’s ban on nuclear weapons in place.
