Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin , 37, who enjoys popularity at home and abroad, faces stiff competition Sunday from the right or even anti-immigration nationalists, in legislative elections that could end her rule.

Polling stations opened their doors on Sunday morning in this northern European country with a population of 5.5 million, and about forty of its voters voted in advance.

The head of government ranks third in opinion polls, but with a slight difference from the leader of the National Coalition (center-right), Petteri Orbo, and the leader of the anti-immigrant and Eurosceptic Finns Party, Rika Bora.

The position of prime minister is traditionally occupied by the leader of the party that obtains the largest number of votes in the elections, in a rule tacitly agreed upon without exception since 1987, provided that he is able to collect a majority in Parliament.

The current scenario is exciting because the difference between the three parties is very small, while Finland is preparing to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) in the coming days in a historic step.

"Everyone has a chance to win and of course we want to win to continue our work for a more sustainable future," Marin told reporters Saturday, pledging to "take care of ordinary Finns."

According to the latest opinion poll, the results of which were published on Thursday, the National Coalition will come to the fore with 19.8 percent of the vote, ahead of the Finns Party (19.5 percent) and then the Social Democratic Party led by Marin (18.7 percent). These differences are slight and fall within the margin. The error.

On the eve of the elections, the right-wing rival of the prime minister said Saturday that he was "optimistic".

And after the advance of nationalists in neighboring Sweden and the victory of the far right in Italy last year, will Finland become the last country for the populist nationalist wave in Europe?

The "Finns' Party", which has existed for more than twenty years in Finnish political life, was not occupied by the vanguard in an election, and Bora (45 years), who has led the party for two years, said Saturday, "I hope to be a good surprise."

A split in 2017 led to a more hard line in the party leadership.

The party is officially considering what it calls "Fixit", that is, a Finnish exit from the European Union, even if that is just "tactical" propaganda, as confirmed by Juho Rakkonen, professor of political science at the "E2 Research" institute.

The analyst said that the party was able to benefit more than other formations from the current wave of inflation and is at the forefront of youth voting intentions by distinguishing itself from the rest of the political class.

Räkkönen added that the driver of the good polls for what used to be called "real Finns" was "high energy prices and a general decline in purchasing power".

Sana Marin, the youngest female head of government in the world when she came to power at the end of 2019, achieved great popularity for her good management of the Covid-19 epidemic and the issue of joining NATO, which her party rejected before the war in Ukraine.

"We went through difficult years, but we overcame the difficulties together," the leader told her supporters on Friday.

However, the economy is the main argument of the opposition attack, which denounces the rise of 10 points of GDP in public debt over four years, to 73 percent.

"Marin does not please everyone," said Juho Räkkonen. "Although she is exceptionally popular, she stirs up opposition and deepens the political divide." "One politician alone is not enough," he added.

Her five-party government coalition has also been struggling for months. Its centrist ally has announced that it will refuse to renew this alliance.

Voting takes place from nine o'clock (06:00 GMT) to 20:00 (17:00 GMT), provided that the first partial results of the pre-vote will be published.

The competition is taking place for two hundred seats in a country where it usually takes about six weeks to form a government.

So Marin will have to remain at the helm of the acting government next week when Finland formally joins NATO after receiving the last necessary green light from Turkey on Thursday.

The outcome of the practical elections cannot be derailed because now all major parties are in favor of joining NATO.