Jeffrey Epstein-related Investigation Begins in the Norwegian Parliament

The Norwegian Parliament has launched an investigation into 11 current and former senior ministers, including Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere, over alleged relationships with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and funds provided from public sources. Public hearings in the parliamentary committee began on Wednesday.

Politics, diplomacy and the use of public funds became a matter of debate in Norway after the US Department of Justice made millions of Epstein documents public in January. The documents contained new information about connections with politicians, diplomats and business people.

One of the important topics of the investigation is that the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs transferred more than 130 million kroner to the International Peace Institute (IPI) between 1997 and 2018.

The New York-based think tank was led by Norwegian diplomat Terje Rød-Larsen between 2005 and 2020. According to official records, the total support given to the institution amounted to 130.6 million kroner.

Stoere served as Norwegian Minister of Foreign Affairs between 2005 and 2012.

The name of Terje Rød-Larsen, who played an important role in the Middle East peace talks in the 1990s, was also included in the Epstein files.

Rød-Larsen had previously apologized for her close relationship with Epstein and the personal loan she received from him, and left her position at IPI in 2020. The investigations carried out in Norway aim to examine whether these relationships have led to any irregularities in terms of public duty and public resources.

Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere said in his statement to the Parliamentary commission that he had no relationship with Epstein.

Stoere argued that the cases that emerged could not be considered as an "unhealthy culture" covering the entire Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

He also said that, to his knowledge, Epstein had no influence on Norway's foreign policy, development aid or government decisions.

Jonas Andersen Sayed, who chairs the sessions at the Parliamentary Oversight and Constitutional Affairs Committee, said that the file is not limited to individual relations only.

Sayed stated that some people associated with Epstein showed "very poor judgment" and emphasized that the issue concerns the public's trust in the entire system.

Separate police investigations are being carried out against some high-ranking Norwegian figures who did not testify in front of the Parliament.

Former Prime Minister Thorbjoern Jagland, Terje Rød-Larsen and former diplomat Mona Juul are among the names being investigated within the scope of corruption allegations. All three men denied allegations of any wrongdoing.

The Norwegian Parliament also established an independent commission to examine the Epstein connections more broadly.

The commission is expected to examine relations in Norwegian diplomacy and public administration on a long-term basis and submit its final report by January 31, 2028.