Finland's prime minister issued a public apology after the publication of a photo showing two women kissing half-naked at the country's leader's official summer residence.
The photo emerged days after Prime Minister Sanna Marin was spotted dancing and singing wildly with friends. The public debate on whether the 36-year-old head of the government has the right to celebrate unbridled took extraordinary proportions.
Marin confirmed that the photo was taken in a toilet at an official residence of the Finnish prime ministers after a music festival in early July. Miss Marin is not in the image; the two women shown have their chests covered with a sign that says 'Finland'.
The photo is believed to have been posted by one of the women, a social media influencer, but once the media started reporting on it, the photo was deleted.
' In my opinion, that photo is not appropriate, I apologize for that. That photo should not have been taken' , Marin said on Tuesday.
She said the evening after the festival was a private party and the names of all the guests were given to the security team monitoring the Kesäranta Villa, located in the northern part of Helsinki.
The two-story wooden villa from 1873 has a seaside sauna, a pavilion, and a tennis court.
In the video released last week, Marin appeared with friends at another private party. She has admitted that she and her friends partied in a 'loud way', which included the use of alcohol - but, to her knowledge, no drugs. She even took a drug test at the opposition's request to end speculation about the use of illegal substances. The results were negative.
Sanna Marin leads a five-party governing coalition and has received praise for steadfastly steering the country through the COVID-19 pandemic and the NATO membership application process.
