Finland’s youngest PM announces divorcing her husband

Sanna Marin, Finland's outgoing prime minister, has announced divorcing her husband after 19 years together, it emerged on Wednesday.

Her husband, Markus Raikkonen, also announced on Instagram that they both had filed for divorce.

"We are grateful for the 19 years together and our beloved daughter. We will remain best friends," they said in separate Instagram stories.

“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,” Marin wrote on Instagram.

Marin and Raikkonen, who married in 2020, share a 5-year-old daughter.

They tied the knot in 2020 when Marin as prime minister was dealing with the Covid-19 pandemic.

"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.

Marin and her Social Democratic Party lost Finland's election for parliament last month, trailing the right-wing National Coalition Party as well as the nationalist Finns Party.

From steering her country into NATO to headlines about partying, Sanna Marin is a modern, feminist leader who has nonetheless proved a polarising prime minister of Finland.

The 37-year-old became the world's youngest elected head of government in 2019, running a centre-left coalition with five women party leaders, four under the age of 35.

— With input from AFP