After video of the Finnish prime minister partying with other politicians and celebrities surfaced online, Sanna Marin is now dealing with political fallout.
The video, which was shared on social media on Wednesday, shows Marin and five other people dancing and singing in what appears to be a gathering held at a private home. At one point, Marin, 36, is seen on her knees with her arms behind her head, dancing and mimicking a song.
According to accounts in the Finnish media, one of the other partygoers can be heard yelling "jauhojengi," which is slang for cocaine and means "flour gang" in Finnish.
It wasn't immediately clear when the party, which was apparently attended by Finnish singer Alma and parliamentarian Ilmari Nurminen of the prime minister's Social Democratic Party, was held.
However, the video has spurred demands for Marin to submit to a voluntary drug test from her political rivals. The leader of the opposition party, Riikka Purra, said there was a "shade of uncertainty" over the prime minister as a result of the video.
On Thursday, Marin refuted claims that she used drugs at the house party she called "crazy" and denied any use of the term "jauhojengi."
“I have not used drugs myself, or anything other than alcohol. I’ve danced, sung and partied and done perfectly legal things,” the Finnish leader told reporters, adding that she was “disappointed” that footage of the party had become public.
In the wake of the incident, Marin, who in December 2019 became Finland's youngest prime minister ever, also stated that she would not change and that she intended to carry on as before.
“I have a family life, I have a work life and I have free time to spend with my friends. Pretty much the same as many people my age,” she said. “I am going to be exactly the same person as I have been until now and I hope that it will be accepted.”
The events of this week came after Marin was compelled to apologize in public for going out clubbing after having intimate contact with a COVID-19-positive person at the end of last year.
When video of the prime minister Sanna Marin dancing at a private house party surfaced, hundreds of Finnish women took to social media to show off their dancing and partying in support of Marin.
After the prime minister came under fire for her behavior when two videos of her singing and dancing at a party with friends and another of her enjoying herself in a private VIP room of a well-known club in Helsinki surfaced, film memes of the women dancing and having fun with friends and posting them with the hashtag "solidarity with Sanna" emerged.