Posted24 August 2022, 09:53
FinlandPrime Minister apologizes for topless photo
An ‘inappropriate’ image had been taken at Sanna Marin’s official residence.
Sanna Marin had already had to explain herself for a video that showed her dancing.
AFP
Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin apologized on Tuesday for a controversial photograph taken at her residence, less than a week after a video showing her partying sparked an onslaught of criticism.
The photo released by Finnish media shows two women kissing, taking off their tops to bare their busts and covering their chests with a “Finland” sign.
Ms Marin, 36, confirmed on Tuesday that the photo was taken at her official residence in Kesaranta, after she attended a music festival which ran from July 8-10.
“I think the photo is inappropriate, I apologize. This photo should not have been taken,” Marin told reporters in Helsinki. The Prime Minister explained that at that time, “friends” were in her residence to “spend the evening” and “go to the sauna”.
Streamed on TikTok
The photograph was first posted on a TikTok account by an influencer and former contestant for the Miss Finland pageant, who appears in the photo herself.
In an editorial on Tuesday, Finland’s largest newspaper, Helsingin Sanomat said Ms Marin appeared to “not see control of a situation where different materials may still be held by different parties”.
Ms Marin made headlines last week when a leaked video that showed her dancing and party with friends and celebrities.
Some had interpreted comments overheard in the video as referring to narcotics, which was the subject of heated debate on social media and led the Prime Minister to take a drug test on Friday to ‘dispel any suspicion’ . The test was negative, Marin’s office said Monday.
“No problem”
“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, adding that the results had been signed off by a doctor. .
Her way of dancing was judged by some as unsuitable for a Prime Minister while others defended her right to have fun with friends in a private setting.
So far Ms Marin has enjoyed the support of her party, the Social Democratic Party (SPD). Antti Lindtman, leader of the SDP group in parliament, told a conference that the prime minister had his group’s support. “I don’t see a big problem with her dancing with friends at a private event,” he said.
Ms Marin, the world’s youngest head of government when she assumed the post in 2019, has already come under fire 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.
(AFP)