Finland votes in tight presidential election amid 'hybrid operation' claims

Voting begins in Finland Sunday morning, with citizens able to cast their ballot for one of nine candidates aspiring to be the Nordic nation's 13th president. 

Advance voting started earlier this month, and the country's election commission reports that more than 1.8 million people, or 44% of eligible voters, made their choice ahead of Sunday's main vote. 

The two leading contenders, Alex Stubb from the right-wing National Coalition Party and Green politician Pekka Haavisto, both have a wealth of foreign policy experience - an important qualification for the role which is largely ceremonial, but retains a constitutional lead on foreign affairs outside of the EU; with the office holder also commander-in-chief of the Finnish military. 

Recent polls have put Stubb and Haavisto within a few percentage points of each other, and as close as 0.6% - and with neither candidate likely to get more than 50% in the first round, the top two will head to a second-round vote in February.

"There definitely is a sense of excitement," said Haavisto, who was campaigning in the capital region ahead of polling day. 

"We have been touring the country quite a bit and reception has been excited. Both petrol stations, cafés and clubs have been packed with audiences. The ordinary Finns are now on the move. A high turnout is expected. Something is cooking," he told Euronews. 

Finland's EU Commissioner Jutta Urpilainen, the Social Democrat candidate, described the mood on the campaign trail as "extremely positive." 

"During the past two months, I have visited nearly 60 Finnish cities and met personally over 5000 Finns. This week, we have finally started to see some differences between candidates, and this has really electrified the election," she told