Finland’s Prime Minister
“The photo is inappropriate”: Sanna Marin apologizes for a new party picture from her office
Finland’s Prime Minister Sanna Marin speaks to journalists in Helsinki
© Markku Ulander / DPA
A leaked party video by Finland’s Prime Minister Sanna Marin caused an international sensation. Now the politician is being criticized again because of a photo from her office.
Just a few days after the publication of a party video with her, Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin has come under renewed pressure over a photo of two women kissing taken at her official residence in Helsinki. “The photo is inappropriate, I apologize for that,” Marin told reporters on Tuesday. The image, first published on Tiktok and later shared by Finnish media, shows a Finnish influencer and another woman kissing and covering their bare breasts with a sign that reads “Finland” in English.
Marin confirmed on Tuesday that the photo was taken at her Kesäranta office in Helsinki in July while she was attending a music festival. Marin said she invited “friends” to her office at the time, who “spent the evening” there and “went to the sauna.” A former Miss Finland contestant and now online celebrity first posted the photo with her on her Tiktok user account.
Sanna Marin’s party video makes international headlines
An editorial in the country’s most influential newspaper, Helsingin Sanomat, on Tuesday criticized Marin for appearing to have “lost control”. There is a risk that other people could publish pictures from their private lives.
A video was circulated last week showing Marin partying with a group of friends and celebrities. Some of the comments heard in the video were interpreted as an indication of drugs. Prime Minister Marin had rejected such interpretations and announced a drug test on Friday in order to “dispel any suspicion,” according to her own statements. The negative result of the test was published on Monday.
However, there was also support for the Finnish Prime Minister on the Internet: Under the hashtag #SolidaritywithSanna, women distributed video clips of themselves singing and celebrating.
The 36-year-old social democrat Marin is the youngest prime minister in Finland’s history. When she took office in 2019, she was the youngest head of government in the world at the age of 34. She had come under fire for parties held at her official residence before the video surfaced.