Finnish finance minister announces resignation

Source: Xinhua| 2020-06-05 23:01:43|Editor: huaxia

HELSINKI, June 5 (Xinhua) -- Finnish Finance Minister Katri Kulmuni announced on Friday that she will resign from her position, but will continue as the chairperson of the Finnish Center Party.

Kulmuni, 32 year-old, made the decision following criticism for spending government funding on media appearance training for herself.

In a press conference on Friday, Kulmuni admitted that her government-financed training had also included a rehearsal of her party convention speech. "I should not have done that," she said.

According to Kulmuni, the Center Party would choose a new minister to replace her.

The media appearance training was contracted from a high profile media company and cost the state around 50,000 euros. The training started when she was minister for economic affairs in late summer 2019 and continued into December 2019 when she took the position of the finance minister, according to media reports.

Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin issued a statement on Friday saying that she supports Kulmuni's decision. Marin assured the Center Party of continued cooperation within the current five-party coalition government.

Helsinki Police told local media on Friday it had begun an initial probe into the spending on training for Kulmuni, as two complaints had been received.

Kulmuni has announced that she would pay back the money, but observers noted such a pay-back does not change the legal or moral situation. Enditem

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