Niinistö vows team work with govt, parliament

President Sauli Niinistö on Monday said he will maintain close ties with the government and strengthen relations with the political parties in parliament.

Speaking at a press conference after the Sunday’s historic landslide victory in the presidential election for the second consecutive term, Niinistö said he did not see any necessity for major changes to run his office.

He also said the country’s security situation is better now, compared to the situation of a few years back.

“Finland’s security environment is not as restless as it was when the Ukraine crisis erupted in 2014,” reported the national broadcaster Yle quoting the president as telling the press conference, adding that he expressed the hope that the Russian presidential election in March will bring positive developments in Russia’s relations with the EU.

Niinistö, however, did not see any specific complications in relations between Finland and Russia.

Earlier, at the beginning of the press conference, he thanked the countrymen, particularly the voters who elected him the president and the supporters who worked hard for him in the election campaign.

According to the preliminary results of Sunday’s voting, Niinistö received 1,874,334 or 62.7 per cent of the total votes cast.

He is the first-ever president in the country’s history to be elected through the first round of voting only.