Alexander Stubb Wins Finnish Presidency

Former conservative prime minister Alexander Stubb won the Finnish presidential election, assuming a role that has gained importance in light of the country's NATO membership and rising tensions with neighboring Russia.

Some 4.3 million voters were choosing between Stubb and former foreign minister Pekka Haavisto, a Green Party MP running as an independent.When all votes were counted, the final tally gave Stubb 51.6 percent of the vote.

Stubb, who called the win "the greatest honor of my life," will assume office on March 1.

The changing geopolitical landscape in Europe will be the main challenge for the new head of state, who -- while having limited powers compared to the prime minister -- guides the country's foreign policy together with the government and acts as supreme commander of Finland's armed forces.

"It is absolutely incredible that a country the size of Finland can have such a fair and honest election in this security policy context," Stubb declared in a victory speech to supporters.

"For us in Finland, foreign security policy, we usually stay cool, calm and collected. We take care of our bed. Our defense spending is now roughly 2.3% of our GDP, we have a very strong defense, we are members of the EU and NATO and of course we have a fresh defense cooperation agreement with the United States," he added.

Relations between Moscow and Helsinki deteriorated following Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine, prompting Finland to drop decades of military non-alignment and join NATO in April 2023.

Russia, with whom Finland shares a 1,340-kilometer border, swiftly warned of "countermeasures".

In August 2023, Finland observed an influx of migrants entering through its eastern border without visas.