Norway Opens Hearings on Epstein Links and Officials

Norway’s parliament has begun public hearings involving 11 current and former foreign and development ministers, including Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre, as it examines officials’ connections to Jeffrey Epstein and the government’s oversight of public funds. The hearings are part of a wider response that also includes police investigations and an independent inquiry into the broader case. The parliamentary committee is questioning officials who have held foreign or development minister positions since 2005. Støre, who served as foreign minister from 2005 to 2012, told the committee he had never had a relationship with Epstein. He also said that, to his knowledge, Epstein did not influence Norwegian foreign policy, development aid or other government decisions. The scrutiny includes more than 130 million kroner in Foreign Ministry payments to the International Peace Institute between 1997 and 2018. The institute was led by Norwegian diplomat Terje Rød-Larsen from 2005 to 2020. The dollar equivalent reported for the funding varies among accounts, so the kroner total provides the consistent figure.