Finland’s centre-right presidential candidate Alexander Stubb has slightly increased his lead over Pekka Haavisto of the liberal Green partyaccording to a new poll released today ahead of the January 28 election.

The winner will succeed Sauli Niinisto, who is leaving after two six-year termsin a new era after the country joined NATO last April and was ushered into it after neighboring Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022.

According to the poll conducted byJanuary 12-17 for the newspaper Maaseudun Tulevaisuus, 24% of respondents support Stubb, a former prime minister and member of the ruling National Coalition, while 21% support Haavisto, who was foreign minister until last year.

Support for Stubb rose by one percentage point compared to a similar poll a month ago, while support for Haavisto fell by two percentage points over the same period, while in November Haavisto led Stubb by more than seven percentage units.

Support for far-right “Finns” party candidate Jussi Hala-aho increased by three percentage points reaching 15%, placing him in third place.

Hala-aho is particularly popular with young people, as an informal poll of around 94,000 teenagers by the Finnish National Youth Council showed, in which he came second with 20.8% of the vote, just behind Stubb, who garnered the 21.5%.

Other candidates include the former European Union finance commissioner and governor of Finland’s central bank Olli Rehn, who comes fourth in the poll with 12%, and Social Democrat EU Commissioner for International Corporate Relations Jutta Urpillainen with 7%.

In Finland, the president is the supreme commander of the armed forces, represents Finland at NATO meetings and leads foreign policy in cooperation with the government.

If no candidate secures more than 50% of the vote on January 28, a second round will be held on February 11.