Finnish presidential election: Stubb and Haavisto advance to the second round
29 January 2024 12:43
Finland held its first presidential election in 12 years on 28 January. According to the published data from Yle, none of the participants in the election race received the required majority of votes, the 
The Finnish Ministry of Justice reported that the voter turnout was 71.5%. A total of 3.25 million citizens voted, of which 1.91 million (44.6%) cast their votes early. On election day, 1.29 million (30.3%) voters cast their ballots in the country and 42.9 thousand (16.2%) voted abroad.
The data collected by Yle shows that after all the ballots were counted, no winner of the first round was identified. Thus, the need for a second round of voting became apparent.
According to the results of the vote count, the leaders were former Prime Minister Alexander Stubb with 27.2% and former Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto, who received the support of 25.8% of voters.
The final results of the vote are due to be announced by 30 January.
Stubb and Haavisto will compete in a run-off scheduled for 11 February. Early voting will start on 31 January and end on 6 February.
What is known about the candidates
Alexander Stubb, who left the political arena in 2017, decided to return due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. He promised to focus his efforts on creating a secure and open Finland with strong international ties.
Pekka Haavisto, who founded the Green Party and is running for president for the third time, intends to work for the security of Finns while strengthening the country’s international standing.
According to The New York Times, both candidates have considerable experience in foreign policy and express support for Ukraine, opposing any territorial concessions to Russia in exchange for peace and Ukraine’s aspirations for EU integration.
