The President of Finland, Tarja Halonen, was re-elected for a six-year term on 29 January 2006. The Social Democratic Party's presidential candidate defeated Sauli Niinistö from the leading opposition party, the National Coalition Party, with 51.8% of the vote against 48.2%.
President Halonen and her rival had opposing views on the EU Constitution, Niinistö pushing for its ratification by the Finnish Parliament whereas Halonen thinks that anything is still possible on this issue. The Finnish Prime Minister, Matti Vanhanen thinks that the treaty might need revision.
Finland will hold the six-month rotating presidency of the EU from 1 July 2006. The Finns have stated that the future of the constitutional treaty, the financial framework for 2007-2013, WTO talks and enlargement are the main challenges for their Presidency.
