Finland's new president Alexander Stubb says the Nordic country enters 'a new era' as a NATO member
Alexander Stubb has been sworn in as Finland’s new president
HELSINKI — Alexander Stubb was sworn in Friday as Finland’s new president and said that the Nordic country «is facing a new era» after becoming a NATO member — something he will demonstrate by making his first foreign trip to inspect the military alliance's drill in neighboring Norway's Arctic region.
The 12-day NATO exercise is called Nordic Response and begins on Sunday. Stubb said that he will go for one day, on March 7.
“If someone had told me two years ago that the president of Finland would make his first working visit to NATO exercises a week after his inauguration, I wouldn't have believed it,” Stubb told reporters at a news conference in the seaside Presidential Palace in Helsinki following inauguration ceremonies.
The 55-year-old former prime minister replaced President Sauli Niinistö, a highly popular leader who held the job for two six-year terms.
Stubb, a conservative, was elected head of state in a narrow Feb. 11 runoff victory against independent candidate and former Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto of a left-leaning party.
Stubb has held several government posts, including foreign minister, and led the Finnish government in 2014-2015. He and Niinistö arrived together in high hats at the 200-seat Eduskunta legislature for transition ceremonies that included inspection of a military guard.
Stubb took his oath in Finnish and Swedish, Finland's two official languages, becoming the country's 13th president since it gained independence from the Russian Empire in 1917.
Finland joined NATO in April following Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022. Finland has the military alliance's longest land border with Russia — 1,340 kilometers
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