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Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin: Public apology for party night
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Eric Herchaft / Belga / IMAGO
Finland's Prime Minister Sanna Marin has come under fire for a party night just hours after her foreign minister tested positive for the corona virus.
According to a survey, two thirds of Finns consider the Prime Minister's behavior to be a "serious mistake".
The 36-year-old had previously apologized publicly.
A gossip magazine published photos of the head of government in a discotheque in Helsinki on Monday.
Marin had therefore gone out on Saturday evening and danced until the early hours of the morning.
Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto tested positive on the same day.
She went out with her husband, met friends "and also enjoyed the evening and the nightlife," said the Social Democrat on Facebook.
Previously, she had been officially assured that she did not have to isolate herself in accordance with the applicable Corona guidelines, although she had had contact with someone who was proven to be infected.
New infections in Finland at their highest level
"I should have used better judgment and double-checked the evidence I was given," Marin said.
"I am very sorry that I did not understand that I should have done this."
In a European comparison, Finland has come through the pandemic well so far.
The country with its 5.5 million inhabitants has recorded around 196,000 infections and 1,384 deaths.
However, the number of new infections with 308 cases per 100,000 inhabitants in the past two weeks was higher than ever before.
Marin was the youngest head of government in the world at the time of her appointment in 2019.
She had already come under repeated criticism for parties in her official residence and for posts in online networks that were criticized as dubious.
"I'm a representative of the younger generation," she said.
"And yes, that is reflected in the way I work and live."
anr / AFP
