We Know This: Alexander Stubb is the Next Finnish President, Here’s What You May Not Know

Alexander Stubb is the 13th Finnish president. In the picture he is hugging a supporter at the campaign event at the election night in Little Finlandia on February 11, 2024. Photograph: TONY ÖHBERG/FINLAND TODAY

He takes his time behind the dark curtains of Little Finlandia.

Photographers and reporters cast nervous glances at each other and at the curtains.

Occasionally, the loud voice of presidential candidate Alexander Stubb (NCP) can be heard from behind the curtain as he receives well-wishes, congratulations and maybe tips on how to become the 13th president of Finland.

The wooden building of fine Finnish architecture, originally built as a temporary space during the renovation of Finlandia Hall, is swarming with Stubb supporters in festive suits and dresses. Many are drinking expensive beer and champagne. They cheer and smile.

After about half an hour of talks behind the curtains, Stubb is ready to leave the building. It’s after midnight, and it’s been a long day and night and six months worth of campaigning, but well worth the wait: Stubb received 51.6 percent of the votes, leaving runner-up Pekka Haavisto (Greens) in his shadow with 48.4 percent of the votes.

Campaign analysts say that Stubb won by grabbing the votes of rural Finland. The vitality of the countryside, rather than the cities, was the hot topic in the second round of the elections. Stubb clearly swept the board in Ostrobothnia, in the Swedish-speaking coastal areas as well as in the Finnish-speaking parts.

After following Stubb’s political journey for years, it has become clear to this journalist that when Stubb is not talking about himself, he is capable of injecting a similar dose of enthusiasm into a subject close to his heart: Finland.

One of the things that Stubb has said in the past and in campaign discussions that comes to mind is his “former” relationship with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. On the third day of Russia’s attack on Ukraine, Stubb sent a text message to Lavrov: “Please, stop this madness. You are the only one who can stop it.” Lavrov replied within a minute, according to Stubb: “Who? Zelensky? Biden?”

Stubb’s political resume is longer than a giraffe’s neck.

He was a member of the European Parliament in 2004, Finland’s foreign minister in 2008, and a member of the Finnish parliament in 2011. Between 2014 and 2015, he briefly served as the prime minister of Finland.

Sport … it unites those who are active and earns the respect of those who prefer the couch ….

Stubb may be the next Finnish president with the best aerobic condition in the history of the republic. Whereas the outgoing president, Sauli Niinistö, was known for his long walks with his dog (read our story here) and skating on ice or while playing ice hockey in a Save the Pond event (our article here), and while Urho Kekkonen held the reigns for over 25 years while holding a rep as an active skier, Stubb runs marathons and competes in triathlons. During his campaign, he was known to dive into an ice hole in the morning before the debates.

Stories about Stubb’s private life in recent weeks have included anything from ex-girlfriends to gifted kilts. And although he’s promoting himself as the first Swedish-speaking presidential candidate since C.E. Mannerheim in the second round of the presidential race, it’s clear that Stubb just doesn’t remember that in the 1994 elections, Elisabeth Rehn (Swedish People’s Party) ran against Martti Ahtisaari (SDP). (Who later became president.)

(Oh, and one of Stubb’s exes was featured prominently in the Finnish tabloids: she’s Kerstin Armstrong, an American who dated Stubb when they were students at the private Furman University in South Carolina in the 1990s. Their sparks flew on a long road trip across from South Carolina to Miami (about the length of Finland), and so began a three-year relationship. And the kilt? It’s a gift and a reminder of his wife Suzanne Inness-Stubb’s heritage in Clan Inness, a Highland and Lowland Scottish clan. Inness-Stubb is a British Finn, but her father’s roots are in Scotland, so it’s only natural that her spouse and her son, Oliver, were both given the clan’s kilts; her husband received his when he turned 50, Oliver when he turned 18.)

But what about the runner-up, Pekka Haavisto?

“Pekka Haavisto would be an excellent peace mediator in any role,” Stubb said at a press conference on Monday, the next day after winning the election.

Stubb was asked if Haavisto would join Stubb’s cabinet or if the peace mediation would be an external mission.

“Probably an external mission. I don’t think Pekka Haavisto would want to join my cabinet,” Stubb laughed.

Ok … while Stubb’s references to himself and what he’s accomplished and who he knows have raised eyebrows in certain circles, and while we’ve had a great presidential race with potential candidates, it’s clear that Stubb wants the best for this country.

The Finns have voted.