Finland’s prime minister Sanna Marin has revealed she has taken a drug test, as a new leaked video emerged showing her dancing closely with a male popstar in a nightclub in Helsinki.
Videos have been leaked to the press this week showing the fun-loving politician partying with her friends.
While some have praised her “work hard, play hard” attitude, critics say her partying is irresponsible at a time when tensions with Russia have intensified over her efforts to have Finland join Nato during Vladimir Putin’s ongoing war in Ukraine.
Her political opponents had called on Ms Marin – one of the world’s youngest heads of state – to take a drug test after it was alleged that she was socialising with people who used illegal substances.
In the newest leaked video, Ms Marin dances intimately with a man who has been identified as Finnish singer-songwriter Olavi Uusivirta.
He can be seen with his hands around her waist and – at one point in the video – it appears he is either kissing her neck, an allegation she disputes, or whispering in her ear as they danced at the nightclub Klubi at about 4am on the first weekend of August.
Since 2020, Ms Marin, 36, has been married to her long-term partner Markus Raikkonen, with whom she has a four-year-old daughter.
At a press conference on Friday (19 August) after the video was leaked, Ms Marin said that she had taken a drugs test to “clear [her] reputation”.
She said: “I have today taken a drug test and the results will come within a week ... Never in my life have I used drugs.”
Ms Marin also said that she has not seen or been aware of anyone using drugs around her.
When asked about the video, she said: “I don’t remember anyone kissing my neck. It seems to me that I was being talked to.
“It is true that I am married. These are private matters, and I will not comment on them. But I don’t think anything inappropriate happens in that video.”
Speaking to Finnish magazine Seiska, a few witnesses at the nightclub said Ms Marin and her friends arrived at 2.30am and that she was dancing “intimately with at least three different men”.
Previously, videos had also been leaked of Ms Marin dancing at a house party on the same weekend that she was spotted at the nightclub.
Following her party-packed weekend, she reportedly went back to work on Monday 8 August – the same day she called on the EU to slash the number of visas for Russian tourists to enter Schengen countries, in response to Mr Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.
After the videos were published and criticism was levelled at her, she told reporters on Thursday (18 August) that she was willing to take a drugs test.
She said: “I have nothing to hide. I have never taken drugs. Personally, I did not take drugs, nor did I consume anything other than alcohol.
“I danced, sang, and partied – perfectly legal things. And I’ve never been in a situation where I’ve seen or known of others [using drugs].”
Ms Marin also said that she “resents” that private videos filmed in a private space were leaked to the public.
