Finland's PM Sanna Marin files for divorce

Sanna Marin, Finland's Prime Minister who is all set to leave office after losing the general elections has also announced that she and her husband have filed for divorce.

"We have filed for divorce together. We are grateful for the 19 years together," Marin said in an Instagram story. She also added that she will continue to remain 'best friends' with her partner Markus Raikkonen, who shared an announcement on his own Instagram profile.

The pair have a five-year-old daughter and Marin said that "we will continue to spend time together as a family".


The National Coalition is currently negotiating to form a government with the Finns Party, after Marin's Social Democrats fell to third place with 43 seats in the 200-member parliament, behind the conservative National Coalition with 48 seats and the anti-immigration Finns Party with 46 seats.

The now 37-year-old Marin became the world's youngest elected head of government in 2019, running a centre-left coalition with five women party leaders, four under the age of 35. From steering her country into NATO to headlines about partying, Sanna Marin was Finland's most popular prime minister in decades but nonetheless proved a polarising figure.

Her popularity peaked during the Covid-19 pandemic, building her reputation as an unwavering crisis leader.

But she was soon entangled in headlines relating to her private life, polarising her reputation.

In August 2022, leaked social media videos showing Marin partying with a group of Finnish celebrities made news around the world, prompting her to take a drug test to clear suspicions of wrongdoing.

While some defended her right to a private life, to others the scandals were not fit for her office and evidence of her inexperience.

Marin's government has formally resigned but will continue serving on a caretaker basis until the formation and appointment of a new government.

(With inputs from AFP)