According to a news report from Reuters, the location in question is Helsinki. On Thursday, Pekka Haavisto, the Foreign Minister of Finland, announced his candidacy for the upcoming presidential election. Haavisto aims to replace Sauli Niinisto, who will be concluding his two-term tenure.
Haavisto, a member of the Green Party, is set to make his third bid for the position of Finland’s head of state. He previously finished as the second-place candidate in the 2012 and 2018 elections.
During a press conference, Haavisto stated that he had received numerous appeals from Finns of diverse backgrounds to run as a candidate in the upcoming presidential election in January. He further mentioned that he intends to run as an independent candidate.
According to a poll conducted by Helsingin Sanomat on May 22, 36% of the Finnish population expressed their preference for Haavisto to be elected as the President, placing him slightly ahead of Bank of Finland Governor Olli Rehn at 31% and foreign policy think tank chief Mika Aaltola at 24%.
It is anticipated that Haavisto will resign from his position as foreign minister in the coming weeks following the defeat of the center-left government he belongs to in the parliamentary election held in April.
The initial phase of the presidential election in Finland is scheduled to take place on January 28 of the upcoming year. If no candidate receives a majority of votes exceeding 50%, a run-off election will be conducted on February 11 between the two candidates who received the highest number of votes.