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The ministry announced Mona Juul's resignation on Sunday
evening, days after she was suspended as Norway's ambassador to
Jordan. That followed reports that Epstein left the children of
Juul and her husband, Terje Rød-Larsen, $10 million in a will
drawn up shortly before his death by suicide in a New York
prison in 2019.
Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide said Juul's decision was
“correct and necessary.” Her contact with the convicted sex
offender showed a “serious lapse in judgment,” he said, adding
that “the case makes it difficult to restore the trust that the
role requires.”
A ministry investigation into Juul's knowledge of and contact
with Epstein will continue, and Juul will continue discussions
with the ministry “so that the matter can be clarified,” Eide
said.
The ministry said it also launched a review of its funding of
and contact with the International Peace Institute, a New
York-based think tank, during the period when it was headed by
Rød-Larsen. Eide said Rød-Larsen also had shown poor judgment
regarding Epstein.
Rød-Larsen and Juul were among those involved in facilitating
the landmark Oslo Accords aimed at resolving the
Israeli-Palestinian conflict in the 1990s.
Juul acknowledged in a statement to Norwegian news agency NTB
last week that it had been “imprecise” to describe her contact
with Epstein as minimal, but said that the contact originated in
her husband's relationship with Epstein and she had no
independent social or professional relationship with him.
She wrote that her contact with Epstein had been sporadic and
private, not part of her official duties, but acknowledged that
she should have been much more careful.
The latest batch of Epstein files has cast an unflattering
spotlight on several prominent Norwegian figures. Crown Princess
Mette-Marit on Friday issued an apology “to all of you whom I
have disappointed" after documents offered more details of her
relationship with Epstein.
The country’s economic crimes unit has opened a corruption
investigation into former Prime Minister Thorbjørn Jagland — who
also once headed the committee that hands out the Nobel Peace
Prize — over his ties with Epstein. His lawyer said Jagland
would cooperate.
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