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Finland PM Sanna Marin takes drugs test as new dancing video emerges

Sanna Marin – Finnish PM takes drugs test as new dancing video emerges - Getty Images
Sanna Marin – Finnish PM takes drugs test as new dancing video emerges - Getty Images

Finland’s prime minister has taken a drugs test to prove she was not on cocaine as fresh video footage of her partying with celebrities emerged on Friday.

Sanna Marin held a press conference in which she vowed to carry on in office after a second video emerged of her raucous night during which it was claimed she danced “intimately” with several men.

Ms Marin, 36, was forced to deny having taken illegal drugs after videos of her dancing and drinking on August 6 with about 20 friends, including famous Finnish artists, TV hosts and social media influencers, emerged on Thursday.

The results of the drugs test are due in a week but depending on the type of test she has done, it is not clear if it would show any cocaine use from the beginning of August.

Blood and urine tests would only pick up the drug if conducted within a few days of being taken but a hair sample could be used several months later.

The latest video appears to show the married politician dancing closely with singer-songwriter Olavi Uusivirta in the VIP rooms of an exclusive Helsinki restaurant.

In the first leaked video, unidentified people are heard shouting about “flour”, which is a slang term for cocaine in Finland.

Ms Marin told reporters she had taken a voluntary drugs test to prove her innocence and insisted she had never taken illegal narcotics.

Ms Marin told reporters, “I didn't have any work meetings planned for that weekend. I had time off, spent it with my friends and did nothing illegal”.

But she admitted there could be more embarrassing footage to come, saying she was filmed “everywhere she went”.

“I don't want to lose my faith in people,” she said, referring to the leaked footage.

She added: “I will continue to do my job to the best of my ability."

The centre-Left leader, who has a four-year-old daughter from a relationship lasting 18 years, has been dubbed the “coolest politician in the world” because of her youth and love of rock festivals and leather jackets.

The leaked videos, which appear to show Ms Marin drunk, were filmed on August 6, the iltalehti newspaper reported.

At the time, Finland’s defence forces were on heightened alert because of the threat from Russia. The Kremlin was angered by Helsinki’s decision to end decades of non-alignment to apply to join Nato after the invasion of Ukraine.

Prime minister Sanna Marin leaves after holding a press conference in Helsinki - Getty Images
Prime minister Sanna Marin leaves after holding a press conference in Helsinki - Getty Images

“Sanna danced intimately with at least three different men,” a witness told Seiska, a tabloid newspaper

“She also sat on the laps of two different men. She placed her hand next to one man and he held her gently by the arm.”

“The prime minister can’t be in that condition,” another witness was reported as saying.

Another said, “Oh my god, she’s in a shocking state”.

In December last year, Ms Marin was forced to apologise after photos of her dancing at a Helsinki nightclub until 4am were published. She had stayed out until the early hours despite knowing that she had been exposed to Covid-19.

Meanwhile, Ms Marin’s Polish counterpart said she had good reason to go out and celebrate because her country is joining Nato. “The prime minister has a reason to be happy because Finland joined Nato,” Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki told a news conference when asked about the videos.

“So if on this occasion the prime minister of Finland drank a little more Finlandia (vodka) and because of this danced, there is nothing terrible in that.”