\n
<\/p>\n
OSLO: Norway\u2019s prime minister denied Wednesday an \u201cunhealthy culture\u201d among the country\u2019s diplomats, as current and former ministers addressed a hearing over ties between late US convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and senior Norwegian officials.<\/p>\n
The hearings come against the backdrop of the foreign ministry\u2019s payment of more than 130 million kroner ($13.5 million at the current exchange rate) to the International Peace Institute (IPI) between 1997 and 2018, a think tank headed by Norway\u2019s Terje Rod-Larsen from 2005 to 2020.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is no reason to speak of an unhealthy culture at a large organization just because of what one or several people may have done,\u201d Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store told the Storting\u2019s standing committee on scrutiny and constitutional affairs.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou can\u2019t tar everyone with the same brush,\u201d said the Labour leader, who was called to address the committee about his years as foreign minister from 2005-2012.<\/p>\n
The Epstein files have shed light on ties between the US financier and Rod-Larsen and his diplomat wife Mona Juul, the architects of the 1993 Oslo Accords who are now under investigation in Norway \u2014 she for \u201caggravated corruption\u201d and he for \u201ccomplicity in aggravated corruption\u201d.<\/p>\n
The couple denies any wrongdoing.<\/p>\n
In total, 11 officials who have held the positions of foreign minister or development aid minister since 2005, will address the committee Wednesday and Thursday.<\/p>\n
– \u2018Accountability failures\u2019 –<\/p>\n
In addition to Rod-Larsen and Juul, the Epstein documents have highlighted ties between the sex offender, who died in prison in 2019, and Thorbjorn Jagland, a former prime minister, foreign minister, secretary general of the Council of Europe and chair of the Nobel Peace Prize Committee.<\/p>\n
Epstein also had ties with former foreign minister Borge Brende.<\/p>\n
Jagland is also under investigation on suspicion of \u201caggravated corruption\u201d, but is not among the officials summoned by parliament because he was foreign minister prior to 2005 and because parliament wants to avoid interfering with the police investigation.<\/p>\n
Brende, who resigned in February as president of the World Economic Forum, was to be heard on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Epstein documents raise serious questions about abuse of office, a culture of accountability failures, and poor management of development aid funds,\u201d said Jonas Andersen Sayed, a member of the committee.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe issue concerns public trust in the entire system. It is essential that all the facts are brought to light, that accountability is established, and that the necessary reforms are implemented,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The hearings themselves will not result in any sanctions.<\/p>\n
Parliament has also set up an independent inquiry tasked with a much broader examination of the case, which is due to submit its final report by January 31, 2028.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n