Who is Alexander Stubb, new president of Finland
Alexander Stubb is the new president of Finland. The former first Europhile minister elleader of the National Conservative Partybut away from Finnish political life for 7 years, he won the run-off against his independent opponent, but a member of the Green party, Pekka Haavistowho acknowledged defeat.
Stubb obtained 51.7% of the vote when 98.3% of the votes were counted; the participation in this second round of Finland's 4.3 million voters was over 70%. For the last 3 years, Stubb has directed the European University Institute in Florence, after he withdrew from public life following the defeat of his candidacy for the seat of president of the European Commission, assigned in 2018 to Ursula von der Leyen.
Researcher in political science, he has had an entirely European career: initially councilor and then elected MEP in 2004, he was Foreign Minister at 40. Premier in the period 2014-2015, he then moved to Finance in a center government. His country's membership of NATO, which he had always supported, made him return to Finnish politics, encouraged by the party he had always supported, which is now in government with Prime Minister Petteri Orpo.
“When the homeland calls you, you go there – he said when announcing his candidacy – I believe that one of the most important tasks of the next presidential mandate will be to work on an international system based on rules”. Sportsman (in the past he was an “iron man” and took part in those grueling races that include running, swimming and cycling), father of two children with a British lawyer wife, he thinks that his country should “go to the heart of NATO, producing and not just consuming security”.
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