Finland’s ‘coolest PM’ Sanna Marin to split from partner after 19 years

SANNA MARIN, Finland’s prime minister, has announced that she is to divorce Markus Raikkonen, her partner of 19 years, after only three years of marriage.

The couple, both 37, married in August 2020 and have a five-year-old daughter, Emma Amalia.

“Together we’ve filed for divorce. We’re grateful for the 19 years together and for our beloved daughter,” Ms Marin wrote on Instagram of a relationship that began when they were both 18.

“We’re still best friends, close to each other and loving parents. Going forward, we will still spend time together as a family and with each other. We wish you will respect our privacy. We won’t comment further on this.”

Ms Marin is set to step down after almost three and half years in power, during which she was dubbed the “cool

‘We are grateful for 19 years ... we are still best friends, close to each other and loving parents’

est prime minister in the world” by Germany’s Bild newspaper.

She has been a fierce critic of Vladimir Putin and ditched decades of Finnish non-alignment to apply to join Nato after Russia invaded Ukraine.

However, she faced criticism after footage of her dancing and drinking with friends last August was leaked. She even took a drugs test to prove she was clean as the “partygate” scandal made global headlines.

A video of Ms Marin dancing closely with Finnish singer Olavi Uusivirta, 39, later emerged but he denied they were having an affair and there is no suggestion he is responsible for the split.

In 2021, Ms Marin apologised for staying out clubbing rather than following her own Covid guidelines. She was photographed dancing in a Helsinki nightclub until almost 4am, hours after her foreign minister tested positive.