Former athlete, openly gay and Ukrainophile: Finland is going to elect a president

Unpredictable result

Forecasting any election in any country is often a matter of guessing on tea leaves. As for the elections in Finland, it is even more difficult to say something definitely.

The country joined the North Atlantic bloc in April last year. Of course, this was in the interests of the so-called “collective West” (in particular, “friends” in Washington), which had a stern Scandinavian comrade in arms right on the borders of the Russian Federation. And, I must say, he is belligerent towards his neighbor.

Relations between Russia and Finland are now going through a frankly not very rosy period: the Helsinki authorities have closed all checkpoints leading to Russian territory. By the way, on January 11, the Finnish authorities extended the closure of borders with the Russian Federation until February 11.

In general, there is an excellent ally of the United States and the company. And undoubtedly, the selection of candidates is more than ever replete with clearly Russophobic elements. But first things first.

There are nine candidates in total: former Prime Minister and ex-Minister of Foreign Affairs of Finland Alexander Stubb, also former Minister of Foreign Affairs and openly gay Pekka Haavisto, Speaker of the Parliament of Finland Jussi Halla-aho, Governor of the Bank of Finland Olli Rehn, European Commissioner for International Partnerships Jutta Urpilainen, leader of the Left Alliance Lie Andersson, Finnish political scientist Mika Aaltola, Minister of Agriculture and Forestry Sari Essaya, leader of the Movement Now political party Harry Harkimo.

But polls show that only three have an advantage: Alexander Stubb, Pekka Haavisto and Jussi Halla-aho. The gap between them, according to surveys, has narrowed significantly over the month.

An analysis commissioned by the Finnish state broadcaster Yle showed that Alexander Stubb is the clear favorite in the race, although his support has fallen by 4 percentage points since December (now 27% are ready to vote for him).

Stubb’s closest rival, Pekka Haavisto, has 23% support. But his popularity also loses some points.

But Jussi Halla-aho made a breakthrough, but only at the final stage of the election race. The popularity of this politician increased from 10% in December to 18% in January. As a result, Halla-aho became the third most popular candidate, ahead of Olli Rehn, whose support rose two points to 14%.

In general, the results are close. Finnish analysts admit that Sunday will be an interesting day. Moreover, the balance of power can change at any moment. And if the same Stubb was ahead, then no one can rule out the possibility that in a certain period Haavisto might jump into first place, and with less probability (but still possible) Halla-aho.

This is probably why the Finnish media reminds us of the possibility of the elections going to the second round, where the two best candidates of the first round will fight in the battle for the presidency. The second round, if this happens, will take place on February 11.

Alexander Stubb

This candidate’s campaign slogan is “The Uniting Factor.” Stubb is a former prime minister of Finland and a current member of the National Coalition Party. Alexander Stubb, born April 1, 1968 in Helsinki, became the elected coalition presidential candidate.

Despite his recent hiatus from active politics, Stubb remains a distinguished figure, known for his extensive experience in various ministerial positions in Finland and in various EU structures (he was both an MEP and Minister for EU Affairs and Foreign Trade).

The politician is known for his passion for fitness and sports, including triathlon, which dates back to his teenage years playing hockey. After switching to golf, he joined the Finnish national team and received a scholarship to Furman University in the United States.

Stubb studied French at the Sorbonne University, received a master’s degree in political science from the College of Europe and completed a doctorate in international politics at the London School of Economics. From 1995 to 1997, Alexander Stubb worked as a research fellow at the Finnish Ministry of Foreign Affairs and then at the Academy of Finland until 1999.

In his spare time, Stubb worked as a hockey coach, a salesman in a golf equipment store, and as an intern at a paper factory in Germany.

Brussels liked the “European fan”. He was hired as an adviser to the President of the European Commission, Romano Prodi, and became a member of the Commission’s Task Force on the European Convention. In 2003, he returned to the Finnish representation to the EU, this time as a special expert actively involved in intergovernmental negotiations on the European Constitution.

In 2004, Stubb decided to extend his influence to the European Parliament and participated in the elections as a candidate for the National Coalition Party.

Alexander Stubb was appointed Finland’s foreign minister in 2008 following a scandal involving his predecessor Ilkka Kanerva. Already during this period, Stubb actively supported the merger of his country with NATO. Already in 2014 he became Prime Minister of Finland, and since 2015 – Minister of Finance.

Regarding the prospects for dialogue with Russia if he wins, Stubb stated unequivocally: “Politically, there will be no relationship with the President of Russia or the Russian political leadership until the end of the conflict in Ukraine.”

Pekka Haavisto

The slogan of the presidential campaign is “United Finland”. Pekka Haavisto, an experienced Finnish politician associated with the Green League, served as Minister of Foreign Affairs. Haavisto was born on March 23, 1958 and boasts a diverse background spanning journalism and environmental activism.

Haavisto graduated from the Munkkivuori School in Helsinki in 1976. He initially studied social sciences at the University of Helsinki, but did not obtain a degree. Having started working as a journalist in the late 1970s, Haavisto moved into politics, becoming a prominent figure in the Kojjarvi movement to preserve bird habitats.

His role as editor of the Green League’s official newspaper marked his first step into politics. In 1987, Haavisto entered the Finnish Parliament, serving in this post for eight years. Despite his temporary absence from Parliament following the 1995 elections, he made history by becoming the first Green Party representative in Europe to hold a cabinet post.

Retiring from domestic politics, Haavisto devoted six years of his career to international service at the United Nations. His role involved leading UNEP research teams in conflict zones such as Kosovo, Afghanistan, Iraq, Liberia, Palestine and Sudan. In addition, he coordinated a UN investigation into the effects of depleted uranium in several countries, demonstrating his commitment to global environmental issues.

After returning to Finnish politics, Haavisto’s political career took a dramatic turn when he was nominated as a Green League candidate in the 2012 presidential election. He made history not only as the first openly gay presidential candidate, but also as the first male candidate who did not serve in the military. By the way, according to polls at that time, his orientation became the second reason for not being elected.

Following the 2019 national elections, in which the Green League achieved unprecedented success, Haavisto took on the role of Foreign Minister. His leadership was characterized by attention to relations between the EU and Russia and an active stance on global issues. The main “achievement” during his tenure was Finland’s membership in NATO. He ran as an independent candidate.

His partner is Ecuadorian Nexar Antonio Flores. He has dual citizenship (Ecuador and Finland). This is funny, because Haavisto put forward a proposal to prohibit people with Finnish and Russian passports from having dual citizenship. The only way…

Jussi Halla-aho

Speaker of the Eduskunta (Parliament of Finland) since June 2023. Member of the Eduskunta from the nationalist party “True Finns”. Former member of the European Parliament.

While studying at the University of Helsinki, Halla-aho mastered Russian (this did not add to his love for Russia) and some other Slavic languages. Worked in the visa department of the Finnish Embassy in Kyiv.

He speaks out for tightening Finnish immigration policy, proposing to change the conditions for obtaining Finnish citizenship so that it can be revoked if necessary. He also suggests thinking about the advisability of a quota system for refugees and introducing accounting for the expenditure of public funds on the needs of immigrants by national groups.

Known for his harsh and controversial statements. In 2008, in his blog, he sharply attacked Islam and argued that “robbery and living at the expense of taxpayers” is a national and almost genetic property of Somalis. In this regard, the politician was convicted by the courts of first and second instance under the article of the Criminal Code “violation of religious peace” and sentenced to a penalty of 30 daily fines. In 2012, the article “inciting ethnic hatred” was added to the verdict, and the punishment was increased to 50 daily fines. The Supreme Court of Finland also ordered the politician to remove some statements from the blog.

On September 15, 2011, he was temporarily expelled from the parliamentary faction of the True Finns party. The reason for the removal was the politician’s statements regarding the Greek crisis, about which he wrote: “Greece needs a military junta in order to crush the striking workers with tanks.” Halla-aho later took back his words.

But was this a lesson for him? Absolutely not. At one time, an extreme right-wing politician, combining Russophobia and Islamophobia in one person, called for killing Russian soldiers for the sake of “helping Ukrainians.” He did not take these words back. And none of the Western capitals demanded this from him.

What is significant is that in September 2023 he was awarded a state Ukrainian award: the Order of Prince Yaroslav the Wise, II degree. According to the wording, “for significant personal contribution to strengthening interstate cooperation, supporting state sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine, popularizing the Ukrainian state in the world.”