Alexander Stubb (born April 1, 1968, Helsinki, Finland) is the president of Finland (2024– ). Stubb is the first person from Finland’s Swedish-speaking minority to be elected to that office. He is a member of the National Coalition Party and has been active in the European Parliament, European Union, and Finnish politics since 1999. Stubb is also a prolific author, skilled golfer, and polyglot who speaks Finnish, Swedish, French, English, and German.
Early life
Stubb’s early life prepared him for the international stage. He was raised in a bilingual family, speaking Finnish with his mother and Swedish with his father. He graduated from a high school in Daytona Beach, Florida, where he was an exchange student. A onetime member of Finland’s national golf team, he earned a golf scholarship to Furman University in the United States and graduated with a B.A. in political science. He then received an M.A. in political science from the College of Europe in Bruges, Belgium, and a Ph.D. in international relations from the London School of Economics and Political Science. Even Stubb’s marriage reflects his international orientation: His wife, Suzanne Innes-Stubb, is a British lawyer and the first foreign-born first lady.
He began his political career by working at the Permanent Representation of Finland to the European Union (EU) in 1999–2001 and 2003–04. In 2001–03 he served as adviser to the president of the European Commission and became a member of the Commission Task Force on the European Convention.
Political career
In 2004 Stubb was elected to the European Parliament (EP) as a member of the Finnish National Coalition Party. During his term (2004–08), Stubb joined several committees and groups dealing with budgetary control, consumer protection, constitutional affairs, and LGBT rights. He supported multiculturalism and immigration and urged the government to apply for membership in NATO. His success in the EP was followed by his appointment as Finland’s minister of foreign affairs (2008–11).
Stubb soon rose through the ranks of the Finnish government, next becoming minister of European affairs and foreign trade (2011–14) and then prime minister (2014–15). He argued against the United Kingdom’s departure from the EU in 2014 (two years before British voters elected to leave), but over the years he has lobbied for a flexible relationship with the U.K. In the 2015 elections the National Coalition Party lost its majority in parliament, and Stubb resigned his post. From 2015 to 2024, he continued to offer his academic expertise and diplomatic skills in a number of public positions. These included Finland’s minister of finance, vice president of the European Investment Bank, and director and professor at the School of Transnational Governance in Italy’s European University Institute. Stubb has also written several books and numerous articles on topics relating to economics, finance, trade, and Finland’s identity and role on the world stage.
The Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 caused Finland to break with its long-standing tradition of military neutrality by applying for NATO membership later that same year. Stubb publicly called Russia a potential threat to European security and urged greater unity in opposing the invasion. Finland became a full member of NATO in April 2023, adding Finland’s standing army of nearly 280,000 (with a reserve of 900,000) to guard its 830-mile (1,340-km) border with Russia.
By 2023 Stubb’s reputation, civic record, and outspoken stand for Ukraine made him a front-runner for Finland’s presidential race. He ran as a National Coalition Party candidate and won in 2024. By that time, the war in Ukraine had become the largest conflict on European soil since World War II. Alarmed at the Trump administration’s reluctance to continue aid to Ukraine, in 2025 Stubb made an unofficial visit to President Trump at Mar-a-Lago in Florida to engage in what has become known as “golf diplomacy.” On the golf course, they discussed European-U.S. alliances, international security, and the Russian-Ukrainian conflict.
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Cai-Göran Alexander Stubb
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With the outbreak of the Iran war in February 2026, Stubb has continued to insist that diplomacy and international cooperation are the true means for ending armed conflict and forging new alliances to ensure lasting peace. He is working not only to prevent irreparable splits in U.S.-European coalitions but also to keep Europe from being drawn militarily into the Iran war. Stubb argues that only by negotiating together can countries prevent the world from falling into a global recession. He believes that Finland can play a key role in such critical diplomacy.