HELSINKI: Finns headed to the polls to pick a new president on Sunday to lead the country in its new role within Nato after it broke with decades of non-alignment to join the Western defence alliance in the wake of Russia`s invasion of Ukraine.

The Nordic country`s admission to Nato last year drew threats of `counter measures` from its much larger neighbour.

In December, Finland closed its entire border with Russia to passenger traffic in response to a surge in migrants trying to cross. Moscow denied Finnish charges it was sending the migrants there.

All nine candidates are promising a tough stance towards Russia if elected president, a role that leads on foreign and security policy in close cooperationwith the government and represents the country at Nato meetings, while also acting as a Commanderin-Chief of the Finnish Defence Forces.

The centre-right National Coalition`s Alexander Stubb has emerged as the frontrunner, with recent polls giving him 22-27pc support in a first round, just ahead of liberal Green Party member Pekka Haavisto, who polled at 20-23pc.

The nationalist Finns Party`s Jussi Halla-aho is not far behind Haavisto, at 15-18pc.

Nearly 45pc of eligible voters, or 1.9 million Finns, had voted in advance ahead of Sunday, the justice ministry`s data showed, and partial results consisting of advance votes are expected as soon as polls close after 1800 GMT.-Reuters