Finland is holding a pivotal presidential election, with the country voting for a new leader after its recent NATO entry amidst escalating tensions with Russia. Pekka Haavisto, also known as 'DJ Pexi', is a candidate hoping to make history as Finland's first Green and openly gay president, amid a last-minute surge of the far-right Finns party. The centre-right party is leading with 27%, followed closely by the liberal green candidate with 26%, and the largest far-right party secured 19% of the votes. With a voter turnout of 74.9%, up 5.0 percentage points from 2018, and 44.6% of voters casting their ballots early, the election is set to go to a second round as no candidate has achieved a majority. The next president will serve as the top diplomat and supreme commander of Finland's defense forces, with the responsibility of guarding NATO's longest border against Russia.
Finland to elect new president on the second round https://t.co/xAPLylatGZ
Congratulations Finland! A superb turnout kept the far right out of the final election. Centre right got 27%, liberal green got 26, largest far right got 19. Looking forward to seeing who gets how much over 50% in the final vote in a couple of weeks. https://t.co/Z2d6TYsDUx
Finland steps closer to banning Russians from buying property https://t.co/n57eSTw6dW https://t.co/DGoFKdq5SI
Voting in the presidential election has ended in Finland https://t.co/1e6HfwA30p
Finland, presidential election (first round): With 100% counted, the total voter turnout climbed up to 74.9%, an increase of 5.0 percentage points from 2018. Turnout on election day continued to decrease, while the early vote keeps increasing with 44.6% of voters voting early. https://t.co/MbJtRE30cK
Centre-right party ahead in Finnish presidential election https://t.co/aO7LQDCPNT
Finland goes to the polls: 4.5million people prepare to cast votes amid soaring tensions with Russia over border chaos and Ukraine war https://t.co/ZbH3RQxBLb https://t.co/U188Xw822z
Finns headed to the polls on Sunday to elect a new president https://t.co/KdGgLXZolq https://t.co/eqji0xxz9Z
Finland is holding a presidential election on Sunday, where NATO’s newest member votes for a top diplomat and supreme commander for its defense forces to guard the alliance’s longest stretch of border against its main adversary, Russia https://t.co/yhEAdiNz8f https://t.co/qcmb2DJKPU
As Finland goes to polls today, spoke to presidential candidate Pekka Haavisto, “DJ Pexi”, at his club night in Helsinki about last minute surge of far-right Finns party Finland’s ‘DJ’ candidate hopes to become the country’s first Green and gay president https://t.co/lNHngnF7lG
Russia war is "close"—Finland presidential candidate https://t.co/maQoGQ3MTZ https://t.co/ST6VFvtzN5
Finland’s ‘DJ’ candidate hopes to become the country’s first Green and gay president https://t.co/5xg7nmUKY8
Finland to elect president for troubled times after Nato entry https://t.co/FInprpcPjZ