Norway investigates former prime minister over Epstein ties

FILE -Council of Europe Secretary-General Thorbjorn Jagland speaks at the Russian International Affairs Council in Moscow on March 23, 2012. (AP Photo/Mikhail Metzel, File)

OSLO, Norway — Authorities in Norway have opened an investigation into former prime minister Thorbjørn Jagland on suspicions of corruption following revelations of his ties with the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

The Norwegian Economic Crime Investigation Service, a mixed unit of police and prosecutors, announced Thursday that it would look into whether gifts, travel or loans were received by Jagland in connection with his positions.

Jagland was Norway’s prime minister between 1996 and 1997. He also served as a Chairman of the Norwegian Nobel Committee and was Secretary General of the Council of Europe, the continent’s largest intergovernmental human rights body.

The files revealed years of contact between the politician and Epstein. Emails in the files indicate that he made plans to visit Epstein’s island with his family in 2014, when he was chairman of the Nobel committee, with an Epstein assistant organizing the flights.

Norwegian authorities are also looking to lift Jagland’s immunity, which he enjoys because of his past as a diplomat.

His legal representative told Norwegian broadcaster NRK that Jagland is cooperating with the investigation.

Jagland’s is one of several Norwegian public figures whose reputations have been impacted by revelations from the recent release of over 3 million pages of documents on the millionaire financier and sex offender Epstein released last week by the U.S. Department of Justice. Epstein killed himself in 2019 while awaiting trial on charges that he sexually abused underage girls at his homes in the U.S.

The World Economic Forum, the organizer of an annual high-level business summit in Davos, also announced on Thursday that it was opening an internal review into its CEO Børge Brende to determine his relationship with Epstein, after the files indicated the two had dined together several times and exchanged messages.

Brende served as Norway’s minister of foreign affairs between 2013 and 2017.

He told NRK that he is cooperating with the investigation, that he only met Epstein in business settings and he was unaware of Epstein’s criminal background.

Norway’s Crown Princess Mette-Marit also faces renewed scrutiny over her past contacts with Jeffrey Epstein just as her son went to trial this week for multiple offences including charges of rape.

The Epstein files contained several hundred mentions of the crown princess, who already said in 2019 that she regretted having had contact with Epstein, Norwegian media reported. The documents, which include email exchanges, showed that Mette-Marit borrowed an Epstein-owned property in Palm Beach, Florida, for several days in 2013. NRK reported that the stay was arranged through a mutual friend, which was later confirmed by the royal household.

Mette-Marit said in a statement that she “must take responsibility for not having investigated Epstein’s background more thoroughly, and for not realizing sooner what kind of person he was.” She added: “I showed poor judgment and regret having had any contact with Epstein at all. It is simply embarrassing.”