Conservative former Prime Minister Alexander Stubb announced today his candidacy in the presidential election to be held in January in Finland to succeed Sauli Niinisto, who is retiring after two terms as president.

“When your country calls you, you go where it calls you,” Stubb told a news conference, referring to the fact that conservative Prime Minister Petri Orpo and his party have asked him to be their candidate.

Alexander Stubb, 55, served as Prime Minister of Finland from 2014 to 2015. He has also served as Minister of Finance, Foreign Affairs and European Affairs. He currently teaches at the European University Institute in Florence, Italy.

“I believe that one of the most important missions of the next presidential term will be for the president to work to preserve the rules-based international system,” Stubb emphasized.

“The next president will take office in a changing world that is in part more uncertain and in part more fragile than the one we were used to after 1989.”

In Finland, the president is the head of state and supreme commander of the armed forces. It shares with the government responsibility for defense and foreign policy, except for European affairs.

The Nordic country’s current president, Sauli Niinisto, well-liked among Finns for his pragmatic and calm approach, is stepping down at the age of 74 after serving the maximum of two presidential terms (six years each).

The presidential election will be held on January 28, 2024.