Donald Trump may have sought revenge against Norway for the Nobel Peace Prize snub, but even he likely never imagined the damage revealed in the latest U.S. Justice Department release of three million emails from the Jeffrey Epstein files.
Initially, global headlines focused on a series of embarrassing messages between Norwegian Princess Mette-Marit and Epstein. The crown princess communicated regularly with the financier despite his 2008 conviction for child sexual abuse and even vacationed at his notorious Palm Beach villa. She has since apologized, expressing “deep regret” for the friendship.
But the royal story is just a sideshow compared to the scandal now engulfing some of Norway’s most prominent political and diplomatic figures.
While being mentioned in the Epstein files does not prove wrongdoing, they reveal a staggering history of high-level associations with the convicted child sex abuser over decades.
The most shocking fallout involves prominent Norwegian diplomat Mona Juul and her husband, Terje Rød-Larsen, both celebrated as architects of the Oslo Peace Accords. The couple is now under investigation by Norway’s financial crimes unit, Økokrim, after reports that Epstein left their two children $10 million in a will drafted shortly before his suicide in 2019. Juul resigned as ambassador to Jordan and Iraq on Sunday and is being investigated for gross corruption; her husband is suspected of complicity in the same.
Børge Brende, a former foreign minister and president of the World Economic Forum, is also under scrutiny. The documents suggest he lied about his knowledge of Epstein’s crimes, showing they exchanged emails in 2018 and 2019 about dining together at Epstein’s New York home. In 2019, they shared friendly messages about a photo of a blonde woman and discussed the WEF replacing the UN.
Additionally, a trove of emails over several years indicates that Thorbjørn Jagland, a former prime minister, foreign minister, Nobel Peace Prize committee chair, and Council of Europe secretary-general, may have accepted luxury holidays to Epstein’s Palm Beach resort and private Caribbean island, sought personal loans, and engaged in sexual banter with Epstein. Norway’s economic crimes unit is investigating Jagland for aggravated corruption. Jagland has denied wrongdoing, and through his lawyers, says he is “confident of the outcome” of the investigation.
While Juul and Rød-Larsen have stated through lawyers that they believe they will be cleared, a 2017 vignette highlights their dramatic fall from grace as Norway’s preeminent diplomatic power couple over the past 40 years.
In April of that year, the play Oslo opened on Broadway. It was a smash hit, won a Tony Award, and later transferred to London’s National Theatre before being adapted into a feature film. Oslo dramatized the carefully crafted public image surrounding Juul and Rød-Larsen. The husband-and-wife team built their careers in the 1990s by brokering secret negotiations between Israel and the PLO. The Norwegian media united in uncritical celebration of the resulting 1993 and 1995 Oslo Accords, and of Rød-Larsen and Juul in particular. They received official tributes and honorary awards.
Later, controversy arose: the couple was accused of violating Norwegian archival laws by placing their Oslo archives beyond the reach of critical Norwegian researchers.From 2005 to 2020, Terje Rød-Larsen was the director of a New York think tank called the International Peace Institute (IPI). He secured substantial public funding for the organization from the Norwegian foreign ministry in Oslo.
However, Rød-Larsen and his wife, Mona Juul, were portrayed in a play as the chief architects and heroic drivers of the Oslo Accords—an extraordinary diplomatic achievement. The New York Times hailed the play as a “colossus.”
At a special performance in New York in May 2017, Rød-Larsen took the stage on behalf of IPI, which had sponsored the evening. Among the audience was a guest of honor: Jeffrey Epstein, whom Rød-Larsen had brought in as a benefactor without the knowledge of IPI’s board. Newly released emails reveal that Epstein’s money paid for the event. Rød-Larsen would later describe Epstein in private messages as his “best friend,” “a great guy,” and “deserving to be an angel.”
Three years later, Rød-Larsen resigned as the peace organization’s CEO after revelations emerged about a loan from Epstein.
Rød-Larsen is now suspected of using his influence to help obtain visas for Russian models to serve as “interns” at his publicly funded peace institute. One of them claims she later became a victim of Epstein’s sexual abuse.
Surprisingly, given his background as a former social democrat, emails suggest Rød-Larsen may have personally introduced Steve Bannon to friends within the international power elite.
Juul, who previously served as Norway’s ambassador to Israel, the UK, and the UN, is also under investigation for allegedly making business introductions—at Epstein’s request—on behalf of a private intelligence and cyber-surveillance company owned by a former Israeli prime minister.
Norway built its global reputation as a humanitarian and diplomatic power on the back of vast petroleum wealth. The Oslo Accords were its crowning achievement, opening new career opportunities for a generation of Norwegian diplomats who spread across the world to replicate its lessons.
Norway has an egalitarian culture, with relatively low inequality and high levels of trust. We are not generally known for glorifying individuals. As our illusions about Norway’s global standing are shattered, the fabric of that social contract appears threatened.
Most of the public figures named in the Epstein files have a social democratic political background. Yet their commitment to social equality and the welfare state has been, at best, tenuous—socioeconomic inequalities have risen under their watch.
The Epstein files reinforce suspicions that a highly connected Norwegian cosmopolitan elite, living in luxury and harboring deep contempt for ordinary people, see themselves as the rightful masters and architects of the world. They are a far-right conspiracy theorist’s dream.
The files offer a glimpse into a moral void among those so captivated by power and money that they appear willing to enable a far-right movement threatening the future of liberal democracy in Europe.
Exactly what Epstein hoped to gain from his Norwegian elite friends remains unclear, but proximity to Vladimir Putin and Russian power circles may have been one motive.
In any case, it is the populist right and the opposition Progress Party that stand to gain the most from this scandal. As shockwaves continue, it will require great resolve from the governing Labour Party to restore public trust.
Sindre Bangstad is a research professor at the Institute for Church, Religion and Worldview Research in Oslo.
Frequently Asked Questions
Of course Here is a list of FAQs about the topic The Jeffrey Epstein files have shattered Norways illusions about itself framed in a natural conversational tone
BeginnerLevel Questions
1 What does this headline even mean
It means that new information from the Jeffrey Epstein case has revealed connections to powerful Norwegians forcing people in Norway to confront the uncomfortable reality that their societyoften seen as very equal and ethicalis not immune to highlevel corruption and abuse
2 Who was Jeffrey Epstein
Jeffrey Epstein was a wealthy American financier and convicted sex offender He operated a global sex trafficking ring exploiting underage girls and young women and had a network of powerful friends and associates
3 What illusions about Norway is it talking about
The common illusions are that Norway is a nearperfect model of social equality transparency and moral integrity where the powerful are held accountable and such systemic abuse by elites couldnt happen or be covered up
4 Which Norwegians were named in the files
While the full list is evolving with new document releases prominent figures have included Kjell Inge Rkke one of Norways richest men and Tom Hagen a billionaire property investor Their inclusion has sparked major national scrutiny
5 What did these Norwegians actually do
The documents show they were associated with Epsteinvisiting his properties being in his contact book or flying on his planes There is no public evidence they participated in criminal activity but the association itself is the scandal raising questions about judgment and access
Advanced Impact Questions
6 Why is this such a big deal in Norway specifically
Norway prides itself on Janteloven a cultural concept discouraging boasting and putting oneself above others This scandal directly contradicts that showing an elite class mingling with an international criminal which feels like a profound cultural betrayal
7 Isnt this just guilt by association Why is the connection enough to cause a crisis
Its significant because of what the association implies that Norways ultrawealthy move in a separate globalized world of power and privilege that operates outside the nations egalitarian social norms It shatters the trust that wealth and influence are earned and used ethically in Norway
