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You could make a case that Finland is unimportant probably any other year; but as there is a war waged by its next door neighbor right now, and it is applying to join NATO, I'd say Finland is among the top 20 countries in terms of strategic importance right now to the US.
Without being very informed about this scandal, I'll say that I personally find it substantive. Hobbies and passions confer risk. It would be destabilizing for a head of government (or a senior general, or a CEO of a large public company) to be an avid adrenaline junkie partaking in activities with high micromorts. That's an extreme example, but it illustrates that openings exist for bad actors or simply bad accidents. I presume most people who enjoy clubbing like the element of novelty with meeting new people, and that opens Marin up to Russian spies who may gain blackmail material or simply access to her phone, laptop, etc. if people are partying at her home.
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