Finnish women, as well as those in neighboring Denmark, have been sharing videos of their friends dancing and having a good time to show their support for the world’s youngest head of state, amid leaked videos from the politician’s party. The videos are accompanied by the hashtag #SolidaritywithSanna. The BBC’s Megha Mohan on Saturday night tweeted a video montage of Danish women dancing in support of Ms Marin, also noting that “there are many others, albeit isolated, from Finland”. The support for Ms Marin, who was sworn in in 2019 when she was just 34, comes after the backlash and scrutiny of two videos of her party that were leaked to the press. The first video, which appears to be from Instagram Stories, shows Ms Marin drinking with a group of friends, singing and dancing to songs by Finnish rapper Petri Nygård and pop singer Antti Tuisku. Released on August 17th. Soon after, a second video leaked, in which Ms Marin could be seen dancing with a male pop star at a nightclub in Helsinki. The man has been identified as Finnish singer and songwriter Olavi Uusivirta. On Friday, Ms Marin announced she was taking a drug test “to clear her reputation” after her political opponents claimed she was associating with people who used illegal substances. There was no evidence of illegal drugs being taken in the video, but some media outlets claimed that the phrase jauhojengi – meaning “powder gang”, interpreted to refer to cocaine – could be heard in one of the leaked clips, public broadcaster Finland’s Yleisradio Oy (YLE) reported. Ms Marin, who has been married to her partner of 18 years since 2020, also denied the claim that Mr Uusivirta kissed her on the neck in the video from the Helsinki club. In a statement criticizing the videos, Ms Marin said she was “outraged that they have become public”, adding that they were filmed in private. Despite the support of women in Finland and Denmark, however, Ms Marin’s critics have said her party is irresponsible at a time when tensions with Russia have intensified over its efforts to get Finland to join NATO during of Vladimir Putin’s ongoing war in Ukraine. This is not the first time the prime minister has faced backlash for partying. Ms Marin, 36, came under fire last year for partying at a nightclub despite knowing she had been in contact with Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto, who contracted Covid-19 in December.
