Norwegian parliament votes to investigate links between Epstein and foreign office | Norway
Norway’s parliament has voted unanimously to appoint an independent commission of inquiry to investigate links between the foreign office and late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Speaking before Tuesday’s vote, Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre paid tribute to Epstein’s victims, saying files released by the US Department of Justice clearly showed that “it is possible to buy and abuse influence if you are rich enough”.
Støre said connections between “trusted and centrally located” Norwegians were “evidenced” in the Epstein files, adding: “Reasonable questions have been raised about whether the connections violated the law and many aspects of society’s ethical regulations. It is vital that these circumstances and the questions they raise are clarified and the facts are brought to the table.”
The release of the Epstein files in January sent shockwaves through Norway after it named several people at the highest levels of society, including the crown princess and a former prime minister.
The foreign ministry was also drawn into the spreading scandal after financial crimes squad Økokrim said it was investigating former Norwegian ambassador to Jordan and Iraq Mona Juul on suspicion of gross corruption while she was working at the foreign ministry. Her husband, Terje Rød-Larsen, who is also a former diplomat and former president of the International Peace Institute, is being investigated by Økokrim on suspicion of complicity in major corruption.
Juul’s lawyer said he “does not accept the charges against him.” Rød-Larsen’s lawyer said he was confident the investigation would reveal “there is no basis for criminal liability.”
The couple were part of a small group of diplomats who facilitated the 1993-1995 Oslo accords. The Epstein files appear to show that Juul and Rød-Larsen’s two children were bequeathed $10 million by Epstein, and that Rød-Larsen was appointed executor of Epstein’s will in 2017, but that will was later revoked.
Økokrim is also investigating Thorbjørn Jagland, a former Labor prime minister, former Nobel committee chairman and former secretary general of the Council of Europe, accusing him of gross corruption. His lawyer said he “believes there are no circumstances that would give rise to criminal liability.”
Former foreign minister Børge Brende is also included in the documents. After these were published, he resigned as president of the World Economic Forum. Just because his name appears in the Epstein files does not mean there was anything wrong.
Meanwhile, Crown Princess Mette-Marit is under pressure to reveal her years-long relationship with the US financier.
The oversight committee said that in addition to any contact between Norwegian politicians and civil servants and Epstein, the commission would investigate “Norway’s campaigns for senior positions in international organizations” and “the allocation and use of development aid.”
Støre told Stortinget that he agreed that the files raise “serious questions” that need to be answered to restore public trust. He said the government would “thoroughly review” the report when the independent commission submitted its report.
He said he was reviewing the State Department’s grants and contacts with the International Peace Institute.
But he said the foreign office was doing “important and good work for Norway” and contributing to the country’s ability to “stand up to efforts for a more just and peaceful world.”
He said all aspects of his work should be “open and open to discussion, scrutiny and critical scrutiny” but “should not be subject to doubt”. “Especially in the environment we live in today, where international law is violated and the threshold for the use of military force by powerful states has been lowered.”
Trust in public officials is “vital to our democracy,” he said.
“We are and must always be open to improvements and learning from mistakes. That is why it is important that the issues raised by the publication of the Epstein files are now thoroughly examined.”
Per-Willy Amundsen, chairman of the standing committee on review and constitutional affairs, said: “The case raises serious questions about contacts with criminals and corruption in the administration.”
Amundsen, a member of the far-right Progress Party (Fremskrittspartiet or FrP), added: “If this is documented, it could cause permanent damage to trust. The case therefore requires extraordinary measures to restore that trust.”
