The Norwegian Parliament (Storting) agreed on Tuesday to create an independent commission to investigate the ties of the country's political figures to convicted American pedophile Jeffrey Epstein.Recently declassified Epstein files in the United States have revealed that he had closer and more lasting ties than previously disclosed with former Prime Minister and ex-chair of the Nobel Peace Committee Thorbjørn Jagland; former Foreign Minister Børge Brende and Crown Princess Mette-Marit, among others.«It is crucial to maintain trust in the Norwegian Foreign Service, the political class, and democracy,» said Per-Willy Amundsen, head of the Storting's Control Committee, in a statement. He noted that the severity of what has been discovered in recent weeks is great, and it sheds new light on several previous events. Although the creation of the commission received broad support, issues such as its mandate, who will lead it, and what time period should be investigated still need to be agreed upon in the coming days, and there have been disagreements among the parties on these matters. Norway's Economic Crime Authority (Økokrim) has already launched investigations into possible corruption involving Jagland, Norwegian Ambassador to Iraq and Jordan Mona Juul, who resigned last Sunday, and her husband, diplomat Terje Rød-Larsen. Crown Princess Mette-Marit, wife of Crown Prince Haakon, has publicly apologized and promised to provide more explanations, while Brende is being investigated by the World Economic Forum, which he has presided over since 2017.
