FINLAND: Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin has apologised for a topless photo of guests at her official residence.
It comes days after she deflected accusations of having an excessive party lifestyle, by voluntarily taking a drug test – which came back clean.
The latest photo, of two well-known influencers, was taken inside the prime minister’s residence in July and widely shared on social media on Tuesday.
Ms Marin admitted “the picture is not appropriate” and apologised.
In it, two women can be seen kissing each other covering up their bare chests with an official-looking sign reading “Finland”.
On Monday, Ms Marin said the party at her official residence in Helsinki, Kesaranta, happened after the Ruisrock music festival in July. Finnish media report that the photo was taken in the downstairs toilets used by guests.
“We had sauna, swam and spent time together,” Ms Marin said. “That kind of a picture should not have been taken but otherwise, nothing extraordinary happened at the get-together,” she added. The 36-year-old, who came to power in 2019, was until recently the world’s youngest prime minister. The current political drama surrounding her comes as Finland navigates its bid to join the Nato military alliance and responds to its neighbour Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. –Agenceis
