Stubb, Haavisto enter 2nd round of Finnish presidential election

HELSINKI -- The presidential candidate of the National Coalition and former Prime Minister Alexander Stubb and independent Green candidate, former Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto are to compete in the second round of the Finnish presidential election on Feb 11, based on a prognosis issued by national broadcaster Yle after the voting on Sunday.

The polling stations have been closed. In the advance vote results published at 8 pm (1800 GMT), Stubb gained 28.3 percent, Haavisto got 25.8 percent, and the candidate of the Finns Party and Speaker of the Parliament of Finland Jussi Halla-aho, 16.2 percent.

Commenting on the results, Haavisto said he was confident that he would face Stubb in the second round. Meanwhile, Stubb said he would "welcome anyone" in the final round. Stubb said his backing in the advance polls was larger than he expected.

Sami Borg, the election analyst of national broadcaster Yle, said the result matches the latest poll. The only surprise was that Haavisto went three percentage points more than predicted.