Finland's outgoing Prime Minister Sanna Marin and her husband, Markus Räikkönen, are to divorce after 19 years together, Marin announced on Wednesday.
Marin and Raikkonen, married in 2020 while Marin was in office dealing with the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. They have a 5-year-old daughter.
Sanna Marin announces divorce
"We are grateful for the 19 years together and our beloved daughter. We will remain best friends," the couple said in separate Instagram stories.
Räikkönen is a businessman and former professional footballer.
"We have lived our youth together, entered adulthood together and grown into parents for our dear daughter together," Marin wrote on Instagram after her August 2020 wedding to Raikkonen.
The divorce announcement comes after Marin lost Finland’s parliamentary election in April, with opposition right-wing National Coalition Party (NCP) claiming victory in a tightly fought contest.
She is currently serving as caretaker prime minister until a new coalition government can be formed, reports CNN.
Marin, 37, the world's youngest prime minister when she took office in 2019, is considered as a millennial role model for progressive new leaders, even as voters at home opted for a new government. However, while her rise to the top of Finnish politics was meteoric, she also faced criticism for her partying and her government’s high public expenditure.
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.
Suggested Reading: She Can Breastfeed In Public, But She Can’t Party. Why Such Double Standards?
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