[2] Had the new president been elected in the first round on 28 January by winning more than half of valid votes cast, their term would have begun on 1 February.

[4] The presidential election was the first in Finland since it joined the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) in 2023 in response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, ending decades of neutrality in foreign policy.

[8] A candidate may be nominated by a registered political party that has secured at least a single representative in the parliament in the preceding parliamentary election, by a constituency association that has gathered at least 20 000 signatures from eligible voters, or both.

[10] The following notable individuals sought to register as independent candidates, but were unable to collect the 20,000 supporter cards required for registration: Mika Aaltola, the director of Finnish Institute of International Affairs, announced his candidacy on 3 August 2023.

[19] Aaltola commented that he was humbled by the results and that "In a situation where the candidates would solely represent Finlandization and behind-the-scenes dealings, I would feel a calling to attempt the impossible for the benefit of my homeland.

Many of the sources interviewed in the article noted that Aaltola no longer behaves like an expert but rather speaks like a preacher or a politician.

"[25] On 11 April 2023, Aaltola tweeted that "My support in presidential surveys remains persistently encouraging, even though I have stated a practical "no" on multiple occasions.

[30] Pekka Haavisto, former Minister of Foreign Affairs and Member of Parliament for the Green League, announced his candidacy on 8 June 2023.

[38] Harkimo became well known in Finland as the owner of the ice hockey team Jokerit and as the face of the TV show "Diili", the Finnish version of The Apprentice.

[16] Olli Rehn, the Governor of the Bank of Finland and a member of the Centre Party, announced his bid for the presidency on 21 June 2023.

[44] Jutta Urpilainen, the Finnish European Commissioner, former minister and chair of the Social Democratic Party, was frequently mentioned as a possible candidate for the SDP.

[45] The leadership of the SDP had hoped Urpilainen to be a candidate already in the 2018 presidential elections, but she declined the candidacy citing family reasons.

[49] The electoral campaign has mostly been dominated by international and security issues that have risen since the country's accession to NATO in 2023, particularly relations with Russia.

[50] All nine candidates in the first round expressed hard stances on relations with Moscow, with Jussi Halla-aho and Alexander Stubb supporting the idea of revoking Finnish citizenship from dual Russian-Finnish nationals.

[51] Pekka Haavisto supported the closure of the border with Russia, but expressed concern about how the influx of migrants has been used to justify rhetoric against asylum seekers.

[52] Stubb also expressed support for the deployment of nuclear weapons in Finland, while Haavisto objected to the idea as well as that of the remilitarization of Åland.

[53] In response to an ongoing massive strike that began during the election campaign, Stubb distanced himself from his National Coalition Party's support for employers and employees' freedom to settle disputes locally and said he would not interfere with labor market issues as president.

[54] A poll commissioned by the University of Helsinki to find voters' reasons for not choosing specific candidates that was conducted before the first round of voting found that a third of respondents said they would not support Haavisto's candidacy on account of his same-sex Ecuadorian partner, Antonio Flores, with university professor Jaakko Hillo noting that most of those who cited this as an issue were more likely to describe themselves as right-wing conservatives.

Several of Halla-aho's rivals also defended the broadcaster, with Jutta Urpilainen describing the allegations as the "international trend of right-wing populists questioning elections for their own gain arriving in Finland as well", and Pekka Haavisto saying that there were no "signs of outside interference despite concerns regarding that".

Dimitri Qvintus, a Social Democrat party official and spokesperson for former prime minister Sanna Marin, said that the allegations "would fit perfectly with the new Finns Party playbook" of trying to promote doubt in the election results in the event that Halla-aho loses the election, adding that the government should have immediately addressed these claims.

"[97] Following the result of the second round, Haavisto conceded defeat to Stubb and publicly shook hands with him at Helsinki City Hall.

[99] Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy congratulated Stubb on his victory and said that he was looking forward "to advancing our relations and our shared vision of a free, united, and well-defended Europe".