Norway launches probe into 11 senior officials over US Epstein files links

Norway's Parliament opened an investigation into 11 current and former high-ranking ministers, including Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere, over alleged ties and grants connected to the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, Al Jazeera reported. The public hearing began Wednesday.

The inquiry follows the release of millions of Epstein-related documents by the US Department of Justice under President Donald Trump in January, which revealed connections to politicians, royals and the ultra-rich worldwide. Norway, home to the Nobel Peace Prize and a frequent hub of international diplomacy, has seen major fallout from the disclosures, triggering parliamentary inquiries and police investigations, according to Al Jazeera.

The hearing centers on reports that Norway's Foreign Ministry allocated more than 130 million kroner ($13.5m) to the International Peace Institute between 1997 and 2018. The UN-affiliated think-tank was led from 2005 to 2020 by Terje Rod-Larsen, a prominent Norwegian diplomat who helped architect the 1993 Oslo Accords. Stoere served as foreign minister from 2005 to 2012 and has denied any wrongdoing.

Rod-Larsen, who played a key role in Middle East peace efforts in the 1990s, was named in the files and in Norwegian media reports alleging a relationship tied to illicit loans and visa fraud involving sex-trafficked women. Epstein's will also reportedly left millions of dollars to Rod-Larsen's children.

Testifying before the committee, Stoere said he never had any relationship with Epstein and described the "problems" as isolated lapses rather than systemic failures at the Foreign Ministry. "There is no reason to speak of an unhealthy culture at a large organisation just because of what one or several people may have done," he told the committee. He added that, to his knowledge, Epstein had no influence over Norway's foreign policy, development aid or other government decisions.

Jonas Andersen Sayed, who led the parliamentary hearing, said the government must show what it is doing to rebuild trust in the foreign service. "There are many people who have demonstrated very poor judgement," he told Reuters, referring to friends of Epstein. He also said the documents "raise serious questions about abuse of office, a culture of accountability failures and poor management of development aid funds," adding that "it is essential that all the facts are brought to light, that accountability is established and that the necessary reforms are implemented."

Erik Solheim, a former development minister set to testify Wednesday, has called the parliamentary probe an overreaction that will make diplomats overly cautious and harm national interests, according to Al Jazeera. Several other prominent Norwegians with Epstein ties, including former premier Thorbjoern Jagland, Rod-Larsen and his wife, ex-diplomat Mona Juul, are not appearing before Parliament but are under separate police investigation on corruption accusations. Parliament has also established an independent inquiry for a broader examination of the case, with a final report due by January 31, 2028.