Voters in Finland were electing a new president on Sunday at an unprecedented time for the Nordic nation that is now a Nato member with its eastern border with Russia closed – two things almost unthinkable a few years ago.
Polls across the country opened at 9am (0700 GMT) and will close at 8pm (1800 GMT).
Unlike in most European countries, the president of Finland holds executive power in formulating foreign and security policy, particularly when dealing with countries outside the European Union like the United States, Russia and China.
Some 4.5 million citizens are eligible to vote for Finland’s new head of state from an array of nine candidates – six men and three women.
They are choosing a successor to hugely popular President Sauli Niinisto, whose second six-year term expires in March. He is not eligible for re-election.
No candidate is expected get more than 50% of the vote in Sunday’s first round of voting, pushing the race into a run-off in February.
Recent polls suggest that former prime minister Alexander Stubb, 55, and ex-foreign minister Pekka Haavisto, 65, are the leading contenders.
Mr Stubb, who represents the conservative National Coalition Party and headed the Finnish government in 2014-2015, and veteran politician Mr Haavisto, an ex-United Nations diplomat running for the post for the third time, are each estimated to garner 23%-27% of the votes.
Finland’s new head of state will start a six-year term in March in a markedly different geopolitical and security situation in Europe than incumbent Mr Niinisto did after the 2018 election.
Abandoning decades of military non-alignment in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Finland became Nato’s 31st member in April, much to the annoyance of President Vladimir Putin, whose country shares an 832-mile (1,340km) border with the Nordic nation.
Nato membership, which has made Finland the Western military alliance’s frontline country towards Russia, and the war raging in Ukraine, a mere 600 miles (1,000km) away from Finland’s border, have boosted the president’s status as a security policy leader.
In line with consensus-prone Finnish politics, months of campaigning have proceeded smoothly among the candidates.
They all agree on major foreign policy issues like Finland’s future policies toward Russia, enhancing security co-operation with the United States, and the need to continue helping Ukraine both militarily and with humanitarian assistance.
“I think (campaigning) has been done in a civilised mode because of the security situation,” Mr Haavisto told the Associated Press during his last campaign event at a music bar just outside the capital, Helsinki, late on Saturday.
“We (candidates) don’t disagree on basic questions. But it’s a question of the credibility of the new president and his previous experience in foreign and security policy,” added Mr Haavisto, who as foreign minister signed Finland’s historic accession treaty to Nato last year and played a key role in the membership process.
Advance vote results will be confirmed soon after polls close and initial results from Sunday’s voting are expected by around midnight (2200 GMT). The first round results will be officially confirmed on Tuesday.
The likely second round of voting between the two candidates with the most votes is set for February 11.