Sauli Niinisto elected as new President of Finland

Sauli Niinisto, the current President of Finland, has won the 2018 Finnish presidential election on January 28, 2018. He won his second 6-year term with an overwhelming 62.7% of the vote. His closest rival, Pekka Haavisto of the Greens of Finland, secured just 12.4% votes. The term will from 1st March 2018 to 1 March 2024. Mr. Niinisto, who is in office since 2012, is known for cultivating good relations with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin. During his first term, Mr. Niinisto was instrumental in maintaining relations with Moscow, despite the country backing western economic sanctions against Russia over its 2014 annexation of Crimea from Ukraine. Finland, which shares 1,340 km border and a difficult history with Russia, has also developed closer ties with NATO but stopped short of full membership in line with a tradition of avoiding confrontation with Russia.