Alexander Stubb wins close-fought Finnish presidential election

Alexander Stubb of the centre-right National Coalition Party narrowly won Finland's presidential election on Sunday, defeating liberal Green Party member Pekka Haavisto, who conceded defeat, Reuters reports.

Stubb, a former prime minister, is pro-European and a strong supporter of Ukraine who has taken a tough stance towards Russia, according to Reuters.

He declared himself winner in the run-off vote after securing 51.6% of the votes as 99.7% of ballots had been counted, against Haavisto's 48.4%, justice ministry data showed.

In televised remarks Stubb called his victory "the greatest honour" of his life.

"The feeling is calm, humble but of course at the same time I am extremely happy and grateful that the Finns in such large numbers have voted and that I get to serve as president of the Republic of Finland," he said.

Haavisto congratulated Stubb as "the 13th president of Finland".

"I believe Finland now gets a good president for the republic. Alexander Stubb is an experienced, competent person for the job. No more babble," he said.