Alexander Stubb
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Cai-Göran Alexander Stubb (Finland Swedish pronunciation: [ˈkɑi ˈjœːrɑn ɑlekˈsɑndær ˈstʉbː], born 1 April 1968) is the president of Finland, having taken office in 2024. He previously served as prime minister of Finland from 2014 to 2015. Rising in politics as a researcher specialised in the affairs of the European Union, he was elected to the European Parliament in 2004 as a member of the National Coalition Party. In 2008, Stubb was appointed Minister for Foreign Affairs. In 2011, he was elected to the Finnish Parliament for the first time as an MP with the second-highest vote count in the election. He was then appointed Minister for European Affairs and Trade in the Cabinet of Jyrki Katainen. When Katainen stepped down as Prime Minister and Chairman of the National Coalition Party in 2014, Stubb was elected as party chairman. He went on to form a five-party government coalition, and was officially appointed Prime Minister by President Sauli Niinistö on 24 June 2014. At the parliamentary election held in April 2015, Stubb's National Coalition Party lost its status as the largest party, coming in second in vote share and third in seats. After coalition negotiations between the winning Centre Party, Finns Party and National Coalition Party, Stubb was appointed Minister of Finance on 29 May 2015 by newly elected Prime Minister Juha Sipilä. In 2016, Stubb's leadership was challenged from within the party by MP Elina Lepomäki and Interior Minister Petteri Orpo. On 11 June, Stubb lost the leadership to Orpo at the party conference. Resigning as Finance Minister, and declining further ministerial positions, Stubb resigned as a Member of Parliament in 2017 to accept appointment as vice-president of the European Investment Bank. After his term at the European Investment Bank ended in January 2020, he was chosen as the director and professor of the School of Transnational Governance at the European University Institute. In August 2023, Stubb announced his decision to run in the 2024 Finnish presidential election. He finished first in the first round of voting on 28 January and won the run-off on 11 February, winning 51.6% of the votes against the former Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto. Stubb is the second Finland-Swedish president in the history of Finland after Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim, and the first to be elected.