Voters go to the polls in Finland’s parliamentary elections today, with opinion polls showing the three biggest parties in a tight gap, leaving the prime minister Sana Marin to fight for her place.

The conservative party National Alliance, led by the former finance minister Peter Orpo, appeared to have a small lead before the election — but recent polls show her narrowly ahead of the far-right party The Finns Riika Whereand the Social Democrats of Marin.

Polling stations in the northernmost EU country will remain open until 8pm (local and Greek time). The first results based on votes cast in advance are expected to be known soon after the polls close, while preliminary final results will be available around midnight.

Marin, 37, has been Finland’s prime minister since late 2019, leading a center-left coalition of five parties. The candidate of the party that comes out first traditionally takes the prime ministership in Finland—this unwritten rule has been followed without exception since 1987—provided they can secure a majority in parliament.

In any case, these elections are of particular interest as the three main candidates are fighting an ambiguous battle, while Finland is preparing in the coming days to write a new page in its history with its entry into NATO.

The country’s parliament has 200 seats. The formation of a government takes an average of six weeks.

Marin is expected to at least be named caretaker prime minister next week when Finland formally joins NATO, following the final necessary green light from Turkey on Thursday. The election result is not expected to affect this process, as all major parties are in favor of the country joining the NATO alliance.