With more limited powers than the prime minister, the head of state handles foreign policy in cooperation with the government and is the supreme commander of Finland's armed forces<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Finns are voting today to elect their new president, an office with greater demands after tensions with neighboring Russia escalated following the outbreak of war in Ukraine.<\/p>\n
With more limited powers than the prime minister, the head of state handles foreign policy in cooperation with the government and is the supreme commander of Finland's armed forces.<\/p>\n
Having maintained a neutral stance during the Cold War, Finland last year became NATO's 31st member, to the chagrin of Russia, with which it shares a 1,340km border.<\/p>\n
For the first round of the presidential election, two Finnish political figures are leading among nine candidates, according to opinion polls: conservative former prime minister Alexander Stubb and former foreign minister Pekka Haavisto from the Green party. In third place, according to the polls, is the far-right candidate of the Finns Party, Jusi Hala-aho.<\/p>\n
The polls open at 09.00 (local and Greek time) and close at 20.00.<\/p>\n
Relations between Finland and Russia have deteriorated significantly since February 2022 and the Russian attack on Ukraine.<\/p>\n
After its neighbor joins NATO in April 2023, Moscow has promised "countermeasures".<\/p>\n
In August, Finland experienced an influx of visa-free migrants at its eastern border. Helsinki then accused Moscow of orchestrating a migrant crisis on its doorstep and closed its border with Russia in November.<\/p>\n
Source: AFP<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The text describes the role of the President of Finland, who has limited powers compared to the Prime Minister. The President handles foreign policy in cooperation with the government and is the highest commander of the armed forces of Finland. The Finnish people are voting for a new president, with the position having greater demands due to the tension with Russia after the war in Ukraine. Finland became the 31st member of NATO, which displeased Russia. The top two candidates in the presidential elections are Alexander Stubb, a former Prime Minister, and Pekka Haavisto, a former Foreign Minister from the Green Party. The third candidate is Juha Halla-aho from the Finns Party. The voting polls open at 9:00 local time and close at 20:00. The relations between Finland and Russia have significantly worsened since February 2022 and the Russian attack on Ukraine. After the neighboring country's accession to NATO in April 2023, Moscow promised "countermeasures." In August, Finland faced an influx of visa-free migrants at its eastern borders. Helsinki accused Moscow of orchestrating a migration crisis and closed its borders with Russia in November.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2554,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"Default","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[383,3,153,415,501,136,148,292,19,618,17,38,293],"class_list":["post-2553","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cyprus","tag-attack","tag-cyprus","tag-elections","tag-government","tag-green-party","tag-isiyiioeiyi","tag-local","tag-nato","tag-russia","tag-top","tag-ukraine","tag-visa","tag-war"],"acf":{"keyphrase":"","keywords":"","sourceimg":"","country-category":""},"yoast_head":"\n