( dpa ) - Finnish Foreign Minister Ilkka Kanerva on Friday declined to comment on whether he tried to prevent publication of text messages he recently sent to a model who also works as an exotic dancer.
Kanerva, 60, recently apologized for the scores of messages saying he had made in "an error of judgement" but declined further comment when asked by Finnish reporters on the sidelines of a European Union meeting in Slovenia.
Model Johanna Tukiainen failed Thursday to get a court injunction from preventing gossip magazine Hymy from publishing some of the text messages next week.
The 29-year-old model said that neither she nor Kanerva wanted them made public.
Tukiainen was also quoted as telling daily Hufvudstadsbladet as saying she had returned the fee she was paid by the gossip magazine, and declined offers of gifts and trips.
The daily Helsingin Sanomat reported Friday that the conservative National Coalition Party that is part of a four-party coalition was pondering who could replace Kanerva should he be forced to resign.
Back in 2005, Kanerva, then deputy speaker of parliament, was at the centre of a similar row over sending text messages to younger women but defused the matter after apologizing on national television.