2024-02-11 19:34:00
Alexander Stubb, conservative candidate who has won the elections in Finland MAGAZINE PHOTO | Reuters
He was head of Government and minister on three occasions, although he had been away from politics for seven years.
11 feb 2024 . Updated at 8:34 p.m.
The conservative Alexander Stubb was imposed by the minimum in the second and decisive round of the elections Finnish presidential elections this Sunday to his rival, the environmentalist Pekka Haavisto, and will be the next head of state of the Nordic country.
With the 98.3% counted, Stubb obtained 51.7% of the votes, compared to 48.3% for Haavistoa difference much smaller than what previous polls predicted but enough to succeed the also conservative Sauli Niinist in the Presidency. This is the closest result in presidential elections since direct suffrage was established to elect the head of state in 1994.
It is the greatest honor of my life. There is no greater task than being the president of the Republic, Stubb told the press, visibly excited after learning the results. I am proud that at such a complicated time in the global geopolitical situation we have been able to carry out such a civilized campaign, It is not something easy to see today in other countriesgo.
For his part, Haavisto congratulated Stubb and said that Finland will have a very competent president, thanks to his rival’s extensive international experience. The environmentalist candidate highlighted that his result was better than what the latest polls predicted, which gave him a maximum of 47%. % of the votes, but lamented that the improvement in the final stage of the campaign was not enough to win.
With this electoral victory, Stubb will become the second president of the Kokoomus conservative party since 1956.following in the wake of the outgoing head of state, Sauli Niinist, who has exhausted his two six-year terms.
Stubb and Haavisto entered the second round of the presidential elections after beating the other seven candidates in the first vote held two weeks ago, in which they obtained 27.2% and 25.8% of the votes, respectively.
The conservative candidate has been head of government and minister on three occasionsalthough he had been away from Finnish politics for almost seven years, during which time he served as vice president of the European Investment Bank (EIB) and university professor.
For its part, Haavisto, historic lder and founding member of the Greens party, He was Foreign Minister in the previous legislaturea period in which Finland joined NATO in record time, and these are its third consecutive presidential elections. The Finnish president’s main competence is direct international and security policy, in consensus with the government of the day, a very topical issue due to the tense relations with Russia as a result of the invasion of Ukraine and the historic entry of Finland into NATO.
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