Outgoing Finnish PM to divorce as she prepares to leave office

Helsinki, May 11 As she prepares to leave office after her centre-left party lost the Finnish general elections last month, outgoing Prime Minister Sanna Marin and her husband Markus Raikkonen have filed for divorce after three years of marriage.

The couple married in 2020, when Marin was leading the country's Covid-19 pandemic response, and they share a five-year-old daughter, reports the BBC.

In a story post on her Instagram account, the outgoing leader said: "We are grateful for the 19 years together and our beloved daughter."

Marin said she is "still best friends" with Raikkonen, who is a businessman and former professional footballer.

"We will continue to spend time together as a family and with each other," she added.

Marin, 37, became the world's youngest Prime Minister when she took office in 2019.

But she lost out in a tight race to the National Coalition Party, headed by Petteri Orpo, and the right-wing populist Finns Party, led by Riikka Purra, in April, the BBC reported.

While she increased her party's seats and secured 19.9 per cent of the vote, her coalition partners all lost significant numbers of seats.