After partying row, Finland PM apologises for pic of topless guest at official residence

Days after she landed in hot water for a video that shows her drinking and partying with high-profile personalities, Finland’s prime minister Sanna Marin was forced to apologise for a controversial photograph.

The photograph was taken inside the prime minister’s official residence in July, reports BBC. Widely circulated after it resurfaced online recently, the picture shows two women kissing, lifting their tops to bare their torsos and covering their breasts with a sign that says "Finland".

Marin, 36, confirmed on Tuesday the picture was taken at her official residence in Kesaranta, after she attended a music festival. She admitted that it was not “appropriate.”

"I think the picture is not appropriate, I apologise for it. Such a picture should not have been taken," Marin told reporters in Helsinki.

"We had sauna, swam and spent time together," she said, adding that everything else at the get-together was normal.

"That kind of a picture should not have been taken but otherwise, nothing extraordinary happened at the get-together," Sanna Marin said.

The picture was first published on a TikTok account by a former Miss Finland contestant and social media influencer, who appears in the photo.

The Finnish prime minister made headlines in her country just last week after a leaked video emerged online. The video showed Marin partying with a group of celebrities and sparked allegations about the use of narcotics at the party.

Marin agreed to a drug test after strongly denying she had taken any narcotic substances. Her urine sample was tested for the presence of various drugs. It came back negative.

(With inputs from AFP)