Following his victory in the first round of Finland’s presidential election, Alexander Stubb of the center-right National Coalition Party will face off against Pekka Haavisto of the liberal Green Party in a run-off in two weeks.
After the election on Sunday, Stubb had 27.2 percent of the total votes tabulated, Haavisto had 25.8 percent, and nationalist Jussi Halla-aho had 19 percent. It had a 71.5 percent turnout.
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The top two will go into a final run-off on February 11.
After breaking with decades of non-alignment to join the Western defense alliance in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Finland is holding elections to choose a new president to guide the nation in its new role inside NATO.
“You know what, we made it to the final, but the competition will only begin now,” Stubb, a former prime minister, told his supporters.
In the second round, he will face up against former Foreign Minister Haavisto, a human rights advocate with experience negotiating peace.
If elected, Haavisto would be the first openly gay president of Finland.
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“Now our task is to reach those whose candidate is not in the second round,” Haavisto said in a speech to his supporters.
