A few days after the publication of a party video with her, the Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin came under pressure again because of a photo of two women kissing taken in her office in Helsinki.
"The photo is inappropriate, I apologize for that," Marin said at a press conference with President Sauli Niinistö on Tuesday.
The image, first published on the online service Tiktok and later shared by Finnish media, shows a Finnish influencer and another woman kissing and covering their bare breasts with a sign that reads "Finland" in English.
Marin confirmed on Tuesday that the photo was taken at her Kesäranta office in Helsinki in July while she was attending a music festival.
Marin said she invited "friends" to her office at the time, who "spent the evening" and "went to the sauna."
A former Miss Finland contestant and now online celebrity first posted the photo with her on her Tiktok user account.
An editorial in the country's most influential newspaper, Helsingin Sanomat, on Tuesday criticized Marin for appearing to have "lost control".
There is a risk that other people could publish pictures from their private lives.
Marin's drug test was negative
At the press conference, President Niinistö was also asked if he thought national security had been compromised on the night in question.
His answer: "I don't think anything special happened that night."
Marin hit the headlines last week with videos of a private party showing her dancing and singing with friends.
One of the videos fueled rumors that drugs might have been involved.
However, the prime minister underwent a drug test, which she says "dispels any suspicion".
This was negative on Monday.
The 36-year-old social democrat Marin is the youngest prime minister in Finland's history.
When she took office in 2019, she was the youngest head of government in the world at the age of 34.