Finland’s prime minister, Sanna Marin, has lost her battle to stay in power after her centre-left Social Democratic party (SDP) was narrowly beaten into third place in a cliffhanger election by its conservative and far-right rivals.
Marin congratulated the election winners during her concession speech, but hailed an improvement in both her party’s vote share and its projected number of MPs.
“It’s a really good achievement, even though I didn’t finish first today,” she told supporters in Helsinki.
“Democracy has spoken, the Finnish people have cast their vote, and the celebration of democracy is always a wonderful thing,” she added.
Orpo, a 53-year-old former finance minister, said the Nordic country’s solidarity with Kyiv would remain strong during his tenure.
“First to Ukraine: we stand by you, with you,” Orpo told the Associated Press at NCP’s victory event.
Marin has a five-year-old daughter with partner Markus Raikkonen, whom she married in 2020 while in office. »
