Finland's glamorous Prime Minister Sanna Marin is facing severe backlash after a video of her partying with her friends got leaked online late on Wednesday. She can be seen drinking and having a good time in the video, which has gone viral on social media. However, opposition parties in Finland have criticized her, with one leader even demanding that she take a drug test.
Marin denied using drugs and said that she has nothing to hide after the video of her partying wildly with her celebrity friends emerged. Marin, 36, however, said that she only drank alcohol and just partied "in a boisterous way."
PM Goes Wild
Marin is seen drinking with a group of friends while dancing and singing to songs by Finnish rapper Petri Nygrd and pop singer Antti Tuisku in the video, which was first shared to Instagram Stories. The video, which seems to take place in a private apartment, shows the 36-year-old world leader in good spirits as the group cavorts and dances and poses for a cell phone camera.
According to the Iltalehti newspaper, among the public figures from Finland who appear in the video are singer Alma, influencer Janita Autio, TV host Tinni Wikström, YouTuber Ilona Ylikorpi, radio host Karoliina Tuominen, stylist Vesa Silver, and MP Ilmari Nurminen from Marin's Social Democratic Party.
However, this hasn't gone down well with many including several leaders and MPs from opposition parties, with many accusing her of having taken drugs in the party. Finnish MP Mikko Kärnä, from Marin's coalition partner Centre Party, took to Twitter asking her to take a voluntary drugs test.
Marin, the youngest prime minister in the world is frequently photographed at music festivals and makes no secret of partying.
Although the exact date when the video was shot is unknown, Marin's wild partying ways have time and again landed her in trouble in her native country and has attracted a lot of media attention.
Last year, she was forced to apologize for going clubbing at 4 am despite having been in contact with a Covid case.
No Apology This Time
This time, Marin is in no mood to apologize. Instead, she had defended herself and like always has confessed that she loves partying and it was no different this time round. She also said that she drank alcohol and enjoyed the night but denied using drugs, following the allegations by opposition parties.
She said in a press conference on Thursday morning that she had "nothing to conceal or hide."
'I haven't used any drugs, so it's not a problem to take a drug test, but I also think it's quite special that something like this is required. I didn't see any evidence that anything was used anywhere," she told reporters at Kuopio's Rissala airport.
"I have danced, sung, celebrated, done legal things." She added that she had not been drinking heavily. She also hit out at the person who leaked the videos, which she said were from a couple of weeks ago.
"I trusted that since the videos are private and published at a private event, they would not be published,' Marin said. 'It feels bad that they have been published."
When asked if the police should investigate the footage, Marin responded that she was unsure of if anything unlawful had occurred and that it would "hardly be a police matter."
Marin's leaked video has drawn more criticism this time because it comes at a time of national emergency, with Finland ending its historical neutrality to join NATO and grappling with a belligerent Russia.
This week, German tabloid Bild branded Marin "the coolest politician in the world" for her easygoing and practical leadership style, which some have criticized as "careless." The article called her "relaxed, modern, and self-confident," yet it also stated that she "can also party."
Putin dislikes the "cool generation," of which Marin is a member, according to Bild. "Casual, modern and self-confident – that's how politics can work. Marin stands for the 'cool generation', which Putin definitely doesn't like," the newspaper wrote.
Since the beginning of the invasion of Ukraine in February, Marin has been an outspoken critic of Putin. Along with Sweden's PM Magdalena Andersson, the pair have led the way for the two neutral countries to join NATO.
