The preliminary results of the presidential elections have been announced in Finland

In the presidential elections in Finland, after 80% of the ballots were processed, the candidate from the center-right national coalition party (Saml), former Prime Minister and former Head of Foreign Affairs Alexander Stubb, was leading. Yle wrote this on Sunday, January 28.

27.4% of voters voted for him. In second place is Green Union Party member and another former Foreign Minister Pekka Gaavisto with 25.2% of the vote. The third place went to the Speaker of the Parliament, former leader of the far-right Finns Party Jussi Halla-aho with 18.5% of the votes, the fourth place went to the head of the Bank of Finland Olli Rehn with 15.7% . Five other candidates each received less than 10% of the vote.

“Finns are looking for a president for a new era. The people will decide for themselves who has the strongest foreign policy experience and the ability to represent Finland,” Stubb said in response to the results of preliminary voting.

The winner must receive more than 50% of the votes in the first round. The official results of the round will be announced on January 30. If none of the candidates receives more than half of the votes, a second round will take place on February 11, with the two best-performing candidates advancing. Based on preliminary data, it is Stubb and Gaavisto.

Earlier, the Finnish government made changes to the budget for next year, proposing an increase in aid to Ukraine by 95 million euros.

And at the end of 2023, Finland sent Ukraine a military aid package worth 106 million euros.