The joke's on us
Well, seems like it wasn't an elaborate April Fool's joke after all, and we have a new Minister for Foreign Affairs. Ilkka Kanerva had to step down after it was revealed that he'd sent some 200 sexually-charged SMS's to an erotic dancer.
Although sex scandals are the bread and butter of American media and Finns are used to them in that regard, this is the first time a wide-scale media hunt has lead to a resignation of such a high status person because of personal life.
I'm of two minds about the outcome. I don't think what a person does on their free time should reflect their job, but then again the guy was our Minister for Foreign Affairs and I'm sure his personal reputation and loss of credibility would've hurt the whole country. And then there’s the fact that I'd rather take a womanising old fool over a naïve Nato-enthusiast...
Although sex scandals are the bread and butter of American media and Finns are used to them in that regard, this is the first time a wide-scale media hunt has lead to a resignation of such a high status person because of personal life.
I'm of two minds about the outcome. I don't think what a person does on their free time should reflect their job, but then again the guy was our Minister for Foreign Affairs and I'm sure his personal reputation and loss of credibility would've hurt the whole country. And then there’s the fact that I'd rather take a womanising old fool over a naïve Nato-enthusiast...