Finnish presidential election: 2 candidates head for second round on Feb. 11

ANKARA

Two candidates will head for a run-off in the Finnish presidential election on Feb. 11 as no candidate received more than half of the votes in the first round of the ballot held on Sunday, public broadcaster YLE reported.

Finnish voters on Sunday headed to the polls to elect the successor of President Sauli Niinisto, whose second six-year term is set to end.

Former Prime Minister Alexander Stubb got slightly more votes than his rival (27.2%), former Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto (25.8%), which will lead them to a second round. Haavisto ran for president twice in the past.

Some 4.5 million voters voted for nine candidates, with Stubb and Haavisto being the frontrunners.

Finland abandoned its long-standing policy of military neutrality under Niinisto's presidency, following the Ukraine war in February 2022, and became a NATO member in April 2023.