Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin celebrates with friends in private videos – after they are made public, criticism rains down. The 36-year-old defends herself against the allegation of drug abuse and wants to prove it.
Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin has defended herself against allegations of drug use after the publication of a party video with her. “I haven’t taken any drugs, so I have no problem taking a drug test,” the 36-year-old politician told reporters in Helsinki. You have nothing to hide.
Videos had previously been shared online networks showing Marin partying with a group of people. The videos are private, they were recorded in private places, Marin explained. “I spent an evening with friends,” she added. The head of government added that alcohol had been drunk at the party she attended – but denied having taken drugs or having witnessed the use of drugs by others.
Some media had reported that one of the videos featured the Finnish slang word “jauhojengi” (“powder course”), referring to cocaine. However, a number of users on social media have now argued that the word used could be more “jallujengi” or “jallu jenny”, which is a reference to the Finnish brandy called Jaloviina.
Center Party MP Mikko Karna, one of Marin’s coalition partners, tweeted the day before that it would be “wise” for Marin to voluntarily take a drug test. Antti Lindtman, group leader of Marin’s Social Democratic Party (SDP), said at a conference of his party that the head of government had the support of his group. “I don’t see a big problem with her dancing at a private event with friends,” he said. As for a possible drug test, it’s up to Marin to “assess that,” Lindtman added.
Many younger Finns were proud of their exuberant prime minister, but there was also criticism online: “That’s not prime minister’s level, you should know how to behave,” commented a user on Twitter.
Marin is the youngest prime minister in Finnish history. When she took office in 2019, she was the youngest head of government in the world at the age of 34. She had come under fire for parties held at her official residence before the video surfaced. In December 2021 it became known that Marin had danced through the night even though she was in contact with someone who had tested positive for Covid-19. According to a poll commissioned by Finnish television channel MTV3 at the time, two-thirds of those polled believed that Marin’s partying outing was “a serious mistake”.
