Nursing a cigarette against the icy wind, Timo Liusvaara issues a small snort when he is asked about his prime minister. Two weeks ago, he recalls, Sanna Marin blindsided her partners in government with a suggestion that Finland could donate its ageing fleet of F-18 Hornet fighter jets to Ukraine.
Her off-the-cuff proposal backfired, with President Niinisto — who is in charge of the country’s foreign policy — publicly stating that he had not been consulted beforehand.
“A supermodel. She’s too full of herself,” Liusvaara, 65, a retired salesman, said of Marin. “Talking about giving old fighters to Ukraine shows how little she knows about aeroplanes.”
Despite her popularity at home and her rock star image among western liberals overseas, Finland’s charismatic leader is in
