Norwegian parliament votes to investigate links between Epstein and foreign office

The Norwegian parliament has voted unanimously to appoint an independent investigative commission to look into connections between its foreign office and the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

Speaking before the vote on Tuesday, the prime minister, Jonas Gahr Støre, paid tribute to Epstein’s victims and said that the files released by the US Department of Justice had clearly shown “it is possible to buy and abuse influence if you are rich enough”.

Støre said that connections between Norwegians in “trusted and central positions” had been “proven” in the Epstein files, adding: “Reasonable questions have been raised about whether the links are in violation of the law and many aspects of society’s ethical regulations. It is crucial that these circumstances and the questions they raise are clarified, and that the facts are brought to the table.”

The release of the Epstein files in January sent shockwaves through Norway after multiple figures from the highest echelons of society – including the crown princess and a former prime minister – were named in them.

The foreign office was also drawn into the spreading scandal after the financial crimes squad, Økokrim, said it was is investigating Mona Juul, Norway’s former ambassador to Jordan and Iraq, on suspicion of gross corruption while working at the ministry of foreign affairs. Her husband, Terje Rød-Larsen, also a former diplomat and former president of the International Peace Institute, is being investigated by Økokrim on suspicion of complicity in gross corruption.

Juul’s lawyer has said that she “does not recognise the accusations made against her”. Rød-Larsen’s lawyer has said he is confident the investigation will find “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 $10m by Epstein and that Rød-Larsen was appointed executor of Epstein’s will in 2017, which was later revoked.

Økokrim is also investigating Thorbjørn Jagland, a former Labour prime minister and the former chair of the Nobel committee and former secretary general of the Council of Europe, charged with gross corruption. His lawyer has said “he believes that there are no circumstances that would lead to criminal liability”.

Børge Brende, a former foreign minister, also appears in the documents. After they were published he left his position as president of the World Economic Forum. Being named in the Epstein files does not indicate wrongdoing.

Meanwhile, Crown Princess Mette-Marit is under pressure to explain her years-long relationship with the US financier.

As well as any contact between Norwegian politicians and civil servants and Epstein, the oversight committee has said that the commission will investigate “Norway’s campaigns for top positions in international organisations” and the “allocation and use of development aid”.

In his speech to Stortinget, Støre said that he agreed that the files raised “serious questions” that must be answered in order to restore public trust. When the independent commission delivers its report, he said, the government will “thoroughly review it”.

The ministry of foreign affairs, he said, is reviewing grants that it has given and contact it has had with the International Peace Institute.

However, he said that the foreign office does an “important and good job for Norway” and contributes to the country “being able to stand up for the efforts for a more just and peaceful world”.

While he said all aspects of their work must be “open and available for discussion, scrutiny and critical scrutiny”, it should not be “the subject of suspicion. Especially not in the situation we are experiencing today, where international law is being violated, and the threshold for using military force seems to be lowered by powerful states,” he said.

Trust in public officials, he said, was “essential in our democracy.

“We are and must always be open to improvements and to learning from mistakes. That is why it is important that the issues raised by the release of the Epstein files are now thoroughly reviewed.”

Per-Willy Amundsen, chair of the standing committee on scrutiny and constitutional affairs, said: “The case raises serious questions about contacts with criminals, and about corruption in the administration.”

Amundsen, a member of the far-right Progress party (Fremskrittspartiet or FrP), added: “If this is documented, it could cause lasting damage to trust. The case therefore requires extraordinary measures to restore this trust.”