The president of the Government, Pedro Sanchez, met this Wednesday in Madrid with the Prime Minister of Finland, Sanna Marin, to discuss the management of the pandemic, the crisis in Ukraine or the migration pact. As happens on some occasions, the anecdotes, in this case those referring to the physical appearance of the leaders, overshadowed the content of the meeting. Surprised by the physical beauty that both leaders enjoy, many Twitter users entertained themselves by joking about that detail, with messages that combined wit and scathingness. Flippant remarks aside – you have to remember that the ‘Financial Times’ newspaper said that Sanchez had been nicknamed ‘Mr. Handsome’ (Señor Guapo)–,
it is true that Marin’s political profile deserves a calmer comment, because his biography is marked by a dizzying career, striking episodes and some controversy.
La Moncloa has highlighted that the meeting between the two leaders has shown the good bilateral harmony that exists between Spain and Finland, underlining that “both social democratic governments are committed to the social and feminist dimension of political action and to providing a progressive approach to the agenda Europe from dialogue”. Those words do not allow to forget the reproach that Marin dedicated to Sánchez
during the negotiations of the European Union Recovery Fund. “Different governments are sitting at this table that have moved their positions to seek an agreement. We have gone from 0 to 350,000 million euros. And what have you done? We have moved. Now it’s your turn,” snapped the Finnish Prime Minister, exasperated by the Prime Minister’s claims.
vertigo race
Born in Helsinki in 1985, Marin soon changed her hometown for Pirkkala, a small town in southern Finland. His early years were not easy. When she was still a child, her parents separated. With alcohol problems, his father became a shadow during his childhood, a distant figure with whom he had little contact. «I haven’t grown up with him and would say I don’t have a father», he confessed to the magazine ‘Vogue’ in an interview. Despite that absence, the prime minister enjoyed a loving childhood, away from certain conventions of that time. After her divorce, her mother rebuilt her life with another woman, a circumstance that is not at all strange today, but one that was not talked about so naturally in the 1990s.
Although supported by her family, Marin also did not walk a path of roses during her youth. Like other boys of the same social class, his mother’s economic problems pushed him to look for small jobs, jobs with which to get ahead and pay for his studies. Around that same time, joined the Finnish Socialist Party Youth (SDP), and also enrolled in Administration at Tampere, becoming the first person in his family to go to university. In that city, the second most important in Finland, he climbed the first rungs of his political career. His journey to power lasted just seven years. In October 2012, Marin was elected councilor of the Tampere City Council, after a first attempt that had ended in failure; in April 2015, she became a Member of Parliament or ‘Eduskunta’ of Finland; Finally, in June 2019, he received the Transport and Communication portfolio.
From that date and until December 2019, Marin made a name for herself as a minister, finally coming to power after her predecessor, also a Social Democrat Antti Rinneannounced his resignation. After becoming prime minister, she headed a coalition government made up of the SPD, the Center Party (liberals), the Left Alliance (socialists, greens) and the Swedish People’s Party (representative of the Swedish-speaking minority in Finland). . As chief executive, she dealt with the pandemic while she was still unpacking at the official residence in Kesäranta. According to data, the Scandinavian country is one of the least affected in the world by Covid-19. Since the start of the health crisis, 1,724 deaths have been registered, although cases have skyrocketed since mid-October due to the appearance of the Omicron variant.
scandals
The hopeful figures of the pandemic in Finland have not managed to free Marin from criticism, especially after it came to light in early December that the prime minister attended a party
despite having had contact with his Foreign Minister, Pekka Haavisto, infected with Covid-19. When this information was published, the Social Democrat had already had to face the controversy that hit her in the summer, when it was discovered that her family used public funds to pay for breakfasts at her residence, which were around 300 euros per month. The truth is that the scrupulosity with the practices of the rulers is not exceptional in Finland, a country that occupies the first positions in the annual index of International Transparency.
The latest notable statements by Marin have been made these days, when the president has stated that Finland has no intention of joining NATO at the moment, but to support its European and American allies to protect Ukraine, in the midst of a crisis due to the escalation of tension on the borders of that country. Married and with a child, the young 36-year-old prime minister will also play a key role in this geostrategic challenge.
www.abc.es
George is Digismak’s reported cum editor with 13 years of experience in Journalism