Pro-euro candidate Sauli Niinisto won the first round of Finland's presidential election on Sunday, signaling voters want to keep cooperating with the European Union despite their frustration over bailouts for debt-ridden member states.The former finance minister got 37 percent of the vote. He faces a February 5 run-off with another pro-euro candidate, Pekka Haavisto of the Greens Party, who got about 19 percent.
Anti-euro candidates Paavo Vayrynen and Timo Soini dropped out of the race after the final tally.
While the president has little executive power beyond military and diplomatic affairs, it is a high-profile post and the strength of the pro-euro vote will ease pressure on the government to take a hard line against Brussels.
Pro-euro candidate wins first round of Finnish vote - Yahoo! News