Finland: PM apologizes for topless photo

Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin apologized on Tuesday for a controversial photo she took at her home, less than a week after a video showing her partying sparked an onslaught of criticism.

In a photo published by Finnish media, two women are seen kissing, taking off their tops to reveal their busts and covering their chests with the sign “Finland”.

Ms Marin, 36, confirmed on Tuesday that the photo was taken at her official residence in Caseranta after attending a music festival from July 8-10.

“I think the photo was inappropriate, and I apologize. This photo should not have been taken,” Marin told reporters in Helsinki. At the time, the prime minister explained that “friends” were at his house to “spend the evening” and “go to the sauna.”

The photo was originally posted on a TikTok account by an influencer and former Miss Finland pageant contestant, who appears in the photo.

In an editorial on Tuesday, Finland’s largest newspaper, Helsingin’s Sanomat, said Ms Marin “did not see control of a situation where different products could still be held by different parties”.

Ms Marin made headlines last week when she leaked one A video of her dancing And party with friends and celebrities.

Some interpreted the comments heard in the video as referring to drugs, which was the subject of heated debate on social media and led the prime minister to undergo a drug test on Friday to ‘clear any doubts’. Marin’s office said Monday that the test was negative.

“Prime Minister Sanna Marin’s drug test dated August 19, 2022 did not reveal the presence of drugs,” Marin’s office said in a statement, with the results signed by a doctor.

His dancing was judged by some to be inappropriate for a prime minister, while others defended his right to frolic with friends in a private setting.

So far Ms Marin enjoys the support of her party, the Social Democratic Party (SPD). Anti Lindtman, leader of the SDP group in parliament, told a conference that the Prime Minister had the support of her group. “I don’t see a big problem with him dancing with his friends at a private event.

Ms Marin, the world’s youngest head of government when she took office in 2019, has already been criticized for parties at her official residence. In December 2021, Marin was criticized for dancing until dawn when she was a contact case for Covid-19.