The oxygen ran out in Nurmijärvi at the Haavisto event, where centrists considered their position in the presidential election.
Nurmijärvi
Nurmijärvi in the heart of the snowy city center, free of markets and parking lots, you can look for signs of life on Sunday afternoon. Until the door of the low, red-brick municipal hall suddenly opens.
There Sebastian Lesch takes on the role of porter after noticing movement in the village. He confesses to be a “Pekka fan” and has already arrived more than an hour before the presidential candidate supported by the citizens' delegation and the greens Pekka Haaviston the beginning of the campaign meeting in the council hall.
In the presidential election, 48 percent of Nurmijärvi voters have to look for a new candidate, a former prime minister and a presidential candidate Matti Vanhanen (central) reminds.
He agreed when Haavisto asked for a joint event in Nurmijärvi after the second round was confirmed. The format of the event, “job interview”, was Vanhanen's idea.
Rauli Virtanen, Pekka Haavisto's supporter, and Matti Vanhanen, who performed at the event, drank coffee before the event began.
“Antonio didn't come,” comes a faintly disappointed voice from the hall, when the star of the evening finally arrives, accompanied only by his campaign team members.
Haavist's spouse Antonio Flores is not included in Nurmijärvi.
Haavisto and its campaign workers have started campaigning in northern Finland on Sunday.
“The tower was full, not everyone in Oulu could fit in,” says Haavisto.
The atmosphere during the “super weekend” of the campaign has been so strong that he believes the counter-candidate, the coalition by Alexander Stubb that the polls telling about the lead are wrong.
Council Chamber is so full that many listen outside.
At the beginning of the job interview, Vanhanen tests the candidate's motivation. He asks why Haavisto wants to be president.
“Strictly: I think that Finland, like the whole world, is in a very serious situation”, Haavisto begins and talks about the world's crisis situations for about a minute.
“I want to influence Finland to remain peaceful.”
The people of Nurmijärvi packed into the municipal hall to listen to Matti Vanha and Pekka Haavisto.
Vuokko Nurmi and Emilia Welling follow Pekka Haavisto and Antonio Flores on social media
Vuokko Nurmi, 17, has come, although he is not allowed to vote yet. He follows Haavisto on Tiktok.
“Pekka and Antonio like people,” says Nurmi.
Turm's friend Emilia Welling18, supports Haavisto.
“Values suck”, he justifies and says that he means, for example, human rights issues.
I say after word spread at the end of the week about Vanhanen and Haavisto's event, Stubb's team was also asked to attend from Vanha when Stubb visited Nurmijärvi on Saturday.
That interview only lasted ten minutes, grumbles the host of Haavisto's event Rauli Virtanen. Now almost an hour has been reserved.
Virtanen has been traveling around Finland in Haavisto's double-decker campaign bus, which also has sleeping places for 12 people.
A tall bus crashed into the balcony of an apartment building in Tampere and had to be serviced. The campaign team ordered a new bus, so there will be two Haavisto buses in Finland during the last campaign week.
At least there has been a new bus Madonna's and on the Rolling Stones tours, Haavisto says.
His public request for campaign money on election night in the first round has paid off. By Friday evening, he had already collected 1.5 million euros of donors' money.
In addition to buses, money is spent on advertising in the last week of the campaign.
Pekka Haavisto's campaign trusts that the photos taken with the candidate will spread on social media and be useful.
Nurmijärvi for the occasion, Haavisto and his assistants flew in from the north on Sunday.
There are clearly people who have already voted for Haavisto or are otherwise sure of their position. The pictures taken with “Peka” spread on social media, so preaching to converts is not in vain, the campaign believes.
However, the first audience question is critical. The questioner wants to know why Haavisto was initially against NATO membership.
Haavisto answers each question with a story in which he tells about his career and experiences.
He was famously involved in Finland's membership process and in agreeing on defense cooperation with the United States.
“The president's power has increased because of NATO membership,” Haavisto points out.
Vanhanen's questions are precise and show expertise.
He refers to the post-World War II war crimes trial in Nuremberg and wants to know what kind of Western line Haavisto would follow in relation to Russian war crimes.
Haavisto's answer starts with Darfur and Gaza, and ends with consideration of various future scenarios for Russia. In Haavisto's opinion, Russia should be made to pay.
Interviewer Vanhanen experiences the same fate as journalists often do: politicians do not give straight answers to questions.
The audience is asked in Sweden visibly growing fear of war. There, citizens have been advised, for example, to put a strong plastic bag in the toilet bowl if the water supply is interrupted.
According to Haavisto, the discussion in Sweden is partly about the fact that the usual army scenarios, which have always been done, have only now gained news value.
According to Haavisto, Finland's preparation for war is well illustrated by Helsinki's “nuclear war-resistant” population shelter, which he was able to present to the German foreign minister Annalena for Baerbock.
According to Haavisto, it is a good example of Finland's high-quality preparation compared to many other countries.
As president, Haavisto would tell citizens about security threats openly, but would not paint the threats unnecessarily.
“Inciting twists and turns are always possible in war,” he says. Such have been Ukraine's drone attacks on Russia and Yevgeny Prigozhin “midsummer march” last summer.
Timo Meros (left), Emilia Welling and Vuokko Nurmi listened to Haavisto in the municipal council hall in Nurmijärvi.
Leni Niinikoski has also harnessed the Naava dog Haavisto for the presidential election campaign in Nurmijärvi.
Many people from Nurmijärvi have come because it is important for them to see the candidate live.
It seems that the people of Nurmijärvi have watched the television debates carefully and have gained a lot of information about the candidates. No new surprises are revealed in Vanhanen's exam.
Many people remember Haavisto's experience and character.
“He doesn't use polite words”, Lily Meros to point out. The difference with the counter-candidate Stubb is pleasant.
Vanhanen wants to know if Haavisto would use the opportunity to dissolve the parliament if the government had drifted into a crisis.
According to Haavisto, the decision would be influenced by many things, such as the nature of the crisis, the proximity of the elections and the country's security, which he would always put first.
Oxygen begins to run out in the council chamber, and presenter Virtanen points out that time has also been set aside for selfies.
After the event, in addition to the “Pekka fans”, centrists who ponder their position come out of the hall.
Posing as a centrist Liina Tiusanen says that “the conversation between two civilized men” was pleasant to listen to.
“Haavisto seems thoughtful and experienced.”
“Of the remaining candidates, his world of values is very moderate.”
Tiusanen says that he has time to think before making a decision until the end of early voting, that is, until Tuesday.
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