"We are all human and I really like to dance," Kallas said, adding that opportunities to do so were, for her, all to few and far between, Postimees reports (link in Estonian).

Meanwhile sociologist and Tartu city councillor Eveliis Padar (SDE) noted that Kallas would have been likely to have received similar treatment if she had been filmed in such circumstances, adding that this would also be to the critics' shame.

She said: "If something similar were to happen in Estonia, naturally there would be those among the political opposition, 'useful idiots' and traditionalist 'fake puritans', who would try to score points there."

"However, any foaming at the mouth on pseudo-issues weakens us as a nation," Padar added.

The fact that the video went viral plays into Russian security services' hands, it has been argued, while communications expert Ilmar Raag told Postimees that the Kremlin may be behind its propagation online.

 The original Postimees piece (in Estonian) is here.

The video was taken on a smartphone at a private party in an apartment, raising questions of how it came to be leaked in the first place.

Critics have questioned the prime minister's actions in the light of the current security and energy crises.

Other videos of the prime minister dancing, including one in somewhat of a clinch with a male Finnish popstar, have since emerged, though whether the use of cocaine is verbally referenced in the private party video is not clear.

Marin submitted to a drugs test Friday, the results of which should be made known soon.

The Finnish prime minister also faced criticism last December after having spent the evening at a nightclub, leaving her official work phone behind. This meant she missed a Covid close-contact notification at the time it was sent.

--

Follow ERR News on Facebook and Twitter and never miss an update!