In Finland, the opposition National Coalition Party (NCP) led by Petteri Orpo won by a small margin in the parliamentary elections held on Sunday, April 2.
According to the public broadcaster Yle, after the final summing up of the results, the NCP can get 48 mandates in the parliament - two more than the nationalist party "True Finns". The Social Democratic Party of the current Prime Minister of Finland, Sanna Marin, with a high probability, will get the third place and 43 parliamentary seats. In total, there are 200 deputies in the parliament, Reuters notes.
After the country's election commission counted more than 97 percent of the ballots cast, the Associated Press reported that the center-right NCP had declared victory in the election with 20.7 percent of the vote. Next come True Finns with 20.1%, and the Social Democrats have 19.9% of support votes.
The final election results will be announced on Wednesday, April 5.
37-year-old Marin has already admitted defeat. She faces criticism of her party, in particular, regarding state spending, writes "Voice of America".
If the NCP wins, its head Orpo will have the first chance to form a coalition. The party has led the polls for almost two years, although its lead has been shrinking in recent months. The National Coalition Party promised to cut spending and stop the growth of public debt if it came to power.
Orpo said he was willing to negotiate with all parties to get a majority in Finland's parliament, while Marin said she could enter into a coalition with Orpo, but not with the True Finns nationalists. To form a government, the coalition needs to win more than 100 seats.
When Sanna Marin headed the Finnish government four years ago, she became the world's youngest prime minister, and all five parties in the coalition were led by women. On Mary's terms, the country began the process of joining NATO - in response to Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. At the same time, it is noted that the war in Ukraine had little influence on the current election campaign in Finland.