Finland's popular foreign minister announces bid to run in 2024 presidential election

Finland’s popular outgoing foreign minister, who was one of the key negotiators of his country’s recent membership in NATO, says he will run as a candidate in the presidential election early next year. Veteran politician Pekka Haavisto, Finland’s top diplomat since 2019 and a former leader of the Greens party, told reporters in a news conference that he would run as an independent candidate through a constituency association in the January 2024 election. The Finnish head of state is elected by a popular vote every six years. The 65-year-old Haavisto has topped recent polls by several media outlets. He is currently the caretaker foreign minister as Finland in the process of getting a new government following April’s general election.