As Finland selects a new president after a prior administration ruled the liberal democracy for more than a decade, the Nordic country once was known for its neutrality.
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister issued a border warning following Finland's accession to NATO and said that Moscow would bolster its military presence in the western and northwestern regions.
Now, with a war waging in Ukraine, the European Union members and a new member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization face a wellspring of unique circumstances in the near future.
The easternmost democracy in Europe is the only EU member to have ever fought a war against Russia and also shares a longer border than any other member. Both Finland and Sweden were once neutral countries but turned to the West for security after the collapse of the Soviet Union.
Finland has been one of the biggest arms suppliers to Ukraine and a staunch opponent of the invasion by Russia. The presidential election on Sunday will decide who will take over for Sauli Niinisto, a conservative who served two six-year terms as president.
From an administrative perspective, the prime minister of Finland runs the executive branch of government. However, the Finnish president is responsible for defense and foreign policy as he is the commander-in-chief of the military and appoints military positions as well.
The country is also looking to forward its aging F-18 Hornet fighter planes to Ukraine after Finland takes possession of its new F-35 attack aircraft.
However, there is an internal debate about whether Finland can afford to give them to Ukraine. Former Prime Minister Sanna Marin faces a great deal of backlash for promising the planes to Ukraine before the country took possession of the latest United States all-purpose fighter nor incorporated into its air force.
"His main task used to be bilateral relations with Russia, but now the position changes because there's not much left of those relations. So the question is, how does the presidency change? Does [the president] now become a NATO president? And the consensus seems to be yes," Minna Alander, a research fellow at the Finnish Institute of International Affairs, told Al Jazeera.
