Sanna Marin

Sanna Mirella Marin (Finnish: Sanna Mirella Marin) is a former Prime Minister of Finland.

Brief biography

Sanna Marin was born on November 16, 1985 in Helsinki. The father of the future Prime Minister abused alcohol, so the family lived poorly. Parents divorced when Sanna was still a child.

After the divorce, her mother entered into a relationship with another woman, so Marin was brought up in a same-sex family.

Already during her schooling, Marin worked in a bakery and then as a cashier in a department store.

In 2012, she received her bachelor's degree from the University of Tampere, and in 2017 she received her master's degree.

Already at the age of 21, Marin joined the political life in the country by joining the Social Democratic Party of Finland.

In 2012, she was elected to the Tampere City Council, which she led from 2013-2017. After resigning as head of the City Council, she was elected as a deputy again.

In 2015 and 2019, Marin also won elections to the country's parliament.

In June 2019, she was appointed Minister of Transportation and Communications.

Already in December of the same year, as a result of the political crisis in the country, she was elected as the new Prime Minister. Her government includes representatives of 5 parties, 12 women and 7 men.

Until January 2020, Marin was the youngest Prime Minister in the world. She lost her symbolic status after the election of 33-year-old Sebastian Kurz as the Federal Chancellor of Austria.

Retirement

On April 6, 2023, Marin submitted her Cabinet resignation to the President of Finland. In this way she fulfilled a formality, as her party lost the election and the right to form a government went to another political force.

War in Ukraine

Marin repeatedly spoke in favor of Ukraine in the confrontation against Russia and personally met with President Vladimir Zelensky in Kiev.

In January 2023, Marin criticized Western countries, saying that if Ukraine were in NATO, Russia would not have decided to go to war.

Finland, on the other hand, also announced its intention to join NATO after Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Personal life

Marin was married to Markus Räikkenen (divorced in 2023). Raises a daughter Emma, born in 2018.