“Fun and dancing should not be seen as inappropriate behavior in 2022”

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Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin’s drug test was negative and no banned substances were found in her urine. Yeah referring to a government statement. Marin paid for the testing out of his own pocket.

As part of the study, lab technicians are able to determine the presence in the body of amphetamine and its derivatives, barbiturates, benzodiazepines, cannabis, dextropropoxyphene, phencyclidine, cocaine, methadone and opiates.

Marin voluntarily took a drug test on August 19 after videos of her party began circulating on social media. Deputy Ilmari Nurminen, TV presenters Tinni Vikström and Karolina Tuominen, photographer Janita Autio, stylist Vesa Silver, singer Alma and other famous people attended the event.

The recordings show how the politician and his friends had fun, danced and sang together. No drugs in the frame. Still, some found the 36-year-old prime minister’s behavior unworthy for such a high position. Also, the media wrote that in one of the recordings, one of the guests was heard pronouncing the word “flour”, which allegedly refers to cocaine.

Marin claims she has never used drugs in her life and drank only low-alcohol drinks that evening. Neither of his friends used drugs (or at least he didn’t see it himself).

“I myself have not used any drugs or anything other than alcohol. I danced, sang, threw parties, did absolutely legal stuff. Also, I didn’t see and didn’t know anyone else was allegedly using it,” he said.

He also stressed that “ordinary people” are in key positions in the government and that “in 2022, entertainment and dancing should not be seen as inappropriate behavior”. “I have a family, a job, and like many people my age, I have free time to spend with friends,” Marin concluded.

He added that he hopes it will stay “as it used to be” and be accepted as such. Otherwise, “the problem may be resolved in the next elections,” added the prime minister.

“I did not restrict myself where I could not trust everyone”

Riikka Purra, leader of the country’s largest opposition True Finns, and Mikko Kärnä, a member of the Finnish Center party in the ruling coalition, urged Marin to take a drug test soon after the records came to light.

Ordinary Finnish women also supported the prime minister and organized Flash mob on Twitter with the hashtag #SolidarityWithSanna (#SolidarityWithSanna). They post videos on the social network where they dance, sing and have fun just like the prime minister. “We still have to dance more. Women in Finland post their videos from the same parties as Sanna Marin and I think that’s great,” she said.

Professor of Gender Studies at the University of Turku Anu Koivunen, Finland highlightedShe said she didn’t think the allegations against the prime minister were made because she was a woman.

The problem was not the party’s own truth, but that the video had been leaked to the network. Koivunen believes it is the inability to choose people to trust that provokes such unrest in society.

“He hasn’t kept himself in a company where he can’t totally trust everyone in the room. “I think that’s the real problem right now,” he said.

Coronavirus, phone and nightclub

In December 2021, a scandal erupted in Finland after Marin spent an evening in a nightclub at the height of the pandemic, but had to self-isolate.

After coming into contact with an infected COVID-19, the prime minister received a warning, but did not read it immediately, as he only took a personal phone with him, not a government phone. Opponents of the prime minister responded by saying that for reasons of national security, the apparatus should always be with him. Justice Chancellor Tuomas Pöisti, following the results of the trial, decided that Marin had not broken any rules after all. But after the event, a new system was introduced that required the recipient of official messages to confirm receipt.

Marin took over the Finnish government in 2019, becoming the world’s youngest prime minister. At that time he was 34 years old. Women have also become leaders and key ministers of all five parties in the governing coalition. At the same time, four of them were under the age of forty.

“I never thought about my age or my gender. I think about the reasons why I got into politics and the things we gained the trust of the voters, ”Marin said in an interview.

In 2021, Marin was featured on the cover of Time magazine’s “Time100 Next” magazine, featuring hundreds of the most influential leaders from different industries and around the world.

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