Finns head to the polls to pick new president
Al Jazeera
The Nordic country’s new president will lead Finland as a NATO member amid tensions with Russia.
People in Finland are heading to the polls to elect a new president to lead the country in its new role within NATO after it broke with decades of non-alignment to join the Western defence alliance in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
All nine candidates are promising a tough stance towards Russia if elected president, a role that entails taking the lead on foreign and security policy in close cooperation with the government, representing the country at NATO meetings, and also acting as commander-in-chief of the Finnish Defence Forces.
The centre-right National Coalition’s Alexander Stubb has emerged as the frontrunner, with recent polls giving him 22-27 percent support in a first round, just ahead of liberal Green Party member Pekka Haavisto, who polled at 20-23 percent.
The nationalist Finns Party’s Jussi Halla-aho is not far behind Haavisto, at 15-18 percent.
Bank of Finland Governor Olli Rehn and Social Democratic European Union Commissioner Jutta Urpilainen are also among the other six candidates from across the political spectrum.
