COPENHAGEN, Denmark — Finland’s prime minister has apologized after a photo was released showing two women kissing and posing topless at the country’s leader’s official summer residence.
The photo came after a video showing Prime Minister Sana Marin dancing and singing with friends sparked a debate about whether the 36-year-old head of government has the right to party heartily.
Marin confirmed that the photo was taken in a bathroom at an official residence of the Finnish prime ministers after a music festival in early July. Marin does not appear in the image; the two women featured have their chests covered with a sign that says “Finland”.
Read more: Sanna Marin faces backlash over dance video
One of the women, described as a social media influencer, reportedly posted the photo, which was removed shortly after news outlets began reporting it.
“I don’t think this photo is appropriate, I apologize for that. This photo should not have been taken,” Marin said on Tuesday, according to Finnish broadcaster YLE.
She said the post-festival gathering was a private party and the names of all the guests were given to the security guards who monitor the Kesäranta estate, located in northern Helsinki.
The two-story log cabin from 1873 features a waterfront sauna, pavilion, jetty and tennis court.
“We used the sauna and the garden, but we didn’t spend time in Kesäranta’s house, although the guest toilets downstairs were used,” Marin said, according to YLE.
In the video leaked last week, Marin appeared with friends at a different private party. She admitted that she and her friends had partied in a “wild way” and that alcohol was involved – but as far as she knows, no drugs.
Marin said she attended the party in recent weeks, but declined to say exactly where or when. She said Friday that she took a drug test to end speculation of illegal substance use. The results came back negative, Marin said Monday, adding that she paid for the test herself.
One of Finland’s major newspapers, Helsingin Sanomat, reported that with general elections scheduled for next year, disillusionment among members of the prime minister’s Social Democratic Party was growing.
While no one has spoken of pressure on Marin to resign and she remains popular within the party, some members interviewed by the newspaper were critical of her judgment amid the war in Ukraine and Finland’s pending bid to join NATO.
A Helsingin Sanomat party member, quoted anonymously, noted that Finland is still a relatively conservative country, especially outside the capital region.
Marin heads a five-party ruling coalition and she has won praise for guiding the country firmly through the COVID-19 pandemic and the NATO application process.
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