Experts: Trump’s victory likely –

The counting of votes in the US presidential election is going hot, as even the last polling stations close at eight o’clock in the morning Finnish time.

The candidates for the highest office of the United States are the current vice president Kamala Harris and the former president Donald Trump. The elections have been historically tight.

Iltalehti followed the progress of the vote counting on the spot at Epicenter in Helsinki at the official election monitors of Amcham Finland. Experts consider Trump’s victory likely.

Researchers at the Foreign Policy Institute Ville Sinkkonen and Maria Linden believe that, based on current numbers and projections, Trump’s victory is likely.

According to Sinkkonen, the situation looks awkward for Harris. Harris’ path to victory would be through the so-called “blue wall”, where advance mail votes from the Libra states have the chance to turn the race around.

Trump’s victory seems likely in light of the numbers. Antti Mannermaa

How is it going for Finland?

The race is tight in important states. A Harris victory seems unlikely, but not impossible.

Trump has often spoken against postal voting, and in some states Democratic votes are still being counted in the counting of postal votes. In the vote count, there may still be a translation at the end.

– Trump could take advantage of this and accuse the Democrats of election fraud in a situation where he has already sold his victory as relatively certain, Lindén thinks.

Lindén thinks that Trump’s possible victory will bring dissatisfaction among Harris supporters. Widespread violence is hardly known from Harris supporters, but rather the disappointment reflects the 2016 election and Hillary Clinton’s loss. If there were indications of Trump’s election fraud, the situation could be different, however.

Secretary General of the Finnish Atlantic Society Terhi Suominen and PhD candidate at the Institute of Foreign Policy Iro Sarkkä think that the presidential election is not that important for Finland. However, Trump’s uncertainty and unpredictability as a leader may cause concern. Question marks are in the air about security, they surmise.

– The elections are underway, so the winners have not been announced yet, Suominen reminds.

Regarding Harris’s possible victory, the most important issues would be foreign and security policy issues. Suominen thinks that Harris would continue Biden’s line.

He also believes that Harris’ eyes would turn more towards the situation in the Pacific region and China, whose role is significant for the United States.

At least the deputy of the US ambassador to Finland will be interviewed Christopher Krafftresearchers at the Foreign Policy Institute Maria Linden, Ville Sinkkonen and Iro Särkkä and the general secretary of the Finnish Atlantic Society Terhi Suominen.