Finland prime minister takes drugs test after party

Sanna Marin talks to the media in Helsinki on Friday. She said she had never taken any kind of drugs ‘even in my teenage years’

Sanna Marin, Finland’s prime minister, revealed she had taken a drugs test after a video emerged this week of her partying and dancing wildly with friends.

Marin said she regarded calls for her to undergo a narcotics test as “unjust” but had agreed to it to dispel any suggestion she had taken drugs. In the clip that first appeared on social media this week, other partygoers reportedly mention the word cocaine.

“In recent days, there have been quite grave public accusations that I was in a space where drugs were used, or that I myself used drugs,” Marin told a press conference in Helsinki on Friday.

“I consider these accusations to be very serious and, though I consider the demand for a drug test unjust, for my own legal protection and to clear up any doubts, I have taken a drug test today, the results of which will come in about a week.”

Marin, 36, became Finland’s prime minister in 2019 and was at that time the youngest elected government leader in the world.

She became known for combining her demanding prime ministerial duties with an active social life and enjoys parties, nightclubs and music festivals. During the pandemic she apologised for going to a nightclub hours after meeting her foreign minister, who had tested positive for Covid-19. She had also failed to take her official mobile phone with her.

After the video emerged this week of her partying with friends, she faced calls from opposition politicians and from a member of her three-way coalition to take a drugs test.

On Friday, Marin said she had never taken any kind of drugs “even in my teenage years”.

Asked whether she knew if any of the other guests at the private event had taken drugs, she replied: “Of course, I can’t know if someone has used something that I haven’t seen myself. On the night shown in the video footage, I didn’t notice that anyone had used [drugs].”

Marin faced some criticism for partying at a time of multiple crises for her government, including heightened tensions with Russia following its invasion of Ukraine.

Marin said she was always contactable in a crisis and “ready to do work”.

“I haven’t missed any prime ministerial duties because I spent time with my friends,” she said. “I believe that Finnish society and its resilience can withstand me singing and dancing with my friends.

“I personally hope that in 2022 it will be acceptable for people in such a decisive position to spend the evening singing and dancing.”..

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