Finnish PM apologizes for topless photo

Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin apologized on Tuesday after a photograph surfaced showing two topless female social media influencers kissing at her official residence in Helsinki. Videos of Marin’s hard-partying lifestyle have already caused controversy.

The photo, which surfaced this week, shows the two women kissing as they lift their tops to expose their breasts, with one holding a sign reading ‘Finland’ to cover herself.

Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, Marin confirmed that the picture had been taken at the prime minister’s official residence in Helsinki in July. Marin said that she had invited several guests back to the house after a music festival.

“In my opinion, the picture is not appropriate,” she said. “I apologize for it. That kind of a picture should not have been taken but otherwise, nothing extraordinary happened at the get-together.”

Marin has had to repeatedly downplay her partying as of late. Videos that leaked last week showed Marin and a gang of friends dancing in an apartment, with some describing themselves as the “flour gang” – a supposed reference to cocaine use.

Although Marin lamented the fact that the videos leaked, she denied acting inappropriately. “I have danced, sung, celebrated, did legal things,” she told reporters on Friday, adding that while she drank alcohol, she remained in suitable condition to “lead the country.” Marin took a “comprehensive” drug test on Friday, which came back clean on Monday.

Cocaine is usually undetectable by blood, saliva, or urine testing after three days.

As Marin explained away the first video, another surfaced showing her dancing in a nightclub with Finnish rock singer Olavi Uusivirta, who at one point appears to kiss her on the neck. Marin, who is married, said that “everyone needs a fun and relaxed evening out.”

The Social Democrat became the youngest prime minister ever elected in Finland in December 2019, and at the time was the world’s youngest head of state, aged 34. While her behavior in the leaked videos has been heavily criticized both nationally and internationally, she has also found support, with women in Finland and Denmark posting videos of themselves dancing, partying, and drinking “in solidarity.”