Presidential elections in Finland: Pekka Haavisto and Alexander Stubb advance to the second round of elections

With almost all the votes counted, Alexander Stubb received 27.1 percent, Pekka Haavisto 25.7 percent, and Hala-Aho 19.0 percent, according to preliminary election results broadcast live by Swedish broadcaster Elle.

– The latest polls show that Stubb is back, but now he has a good lead over Pekka Haavisto, says SVT correspondent.

With no candidate coming close to receiving more than half the votes, it looks like there will be a second round of elections on February 11 – between Stubb and Haavisto.

Register for early voting

There was early voting for a record number. In total, there are 1.88 million people living in Finland who have voted early – which equates to 44% of people eligible to vote.

Finland's presidential office is hotter than it has been in a very long time, as the relatively new NATO nation rearranges its foreign and security policy.

It is the president who sits at the negotiating table during the defense alliance summits. The President is also the Supreme Leader of Finland. Therefore, an important selection criterion is foreign policy experience.

Progress leans further

If the results of the primary elections are confirmed, the candidates who have already emerged in the opinion polls will now receive the largest number of votes.

Veteran politicians Alexander Stubb run for the bourgeois Samlingspartiet party. Pekka Haavisto is not running for his party, De Gröna, but for the so-called Electoral Assembly.

Stop and Haavisto

Staub has a strong background in foreign policy. He was also a Member of the European Parliament, and between 2008 and 2016 he was Foreign Minister, Minister for Europe and External Trade, Prime Minister and Minister of Finance.

Pekka Haavisto has a background as a minister in several governments, most recently as Foreign Minister in the 2019-2023 government of Sanna Marin (Social Democratic Party). He also has extensive experience in international missions in crisis areas.

Watch the full live broadcast from SVT Nyheter and Sweden's Yle.