OSLO, Norway (AP) — A Norwegian ambassador who was involved in Israeli-Palestinian peace efforts in the 1990s and most recently served in Jordan has resigned as she faces investigation over her contacts with Jeffrey Epstein, the country’s Foreign Ministry said.
The ministry announced Mona Juul’s resignation on Sunday evening, days after she was suspended as Norway’s ambassador to Jordan. It followed reports that Epstein had left $10 million to the children of Juul and her husband, Terje Rode-Larsen, 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 “right and necessary”. Her contact with a convicted sex offender shows a “serious lapse in judgment”, he said, adding: “The case makes it difficult to restore the trust that the role requires.”
The ministry’s investigation into Juul’s knowledge of and contacts with Epstein will continue, Eide said, and Juul will continue discussions with the ministry “to clarify the matter.”
The ministry said it also launched a review of its funding of and contacts with the New York-based think tank International Peace Institute during the period when it was led by Rode-Larsen. Eade said that Rode-Larsen had also shown poor judgment in relation to Epstein.
Rode-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 was “inaccurate” to describe her contact with Epstein as minimal, but said the contact arose from her husband’s relationship with Epstein and that she had no independent social or professional relationship with him.
He wrote that his contact with Epstein was sporadic and private, not part of his official duties, but acknowledged that he should have been more careful.
The latest batch of Epstein files has cast an unflattering spotlight on several prominent Norwegian figures. Crown Princess Mette-Marit issued an apology Friday “to all of you whom I have let down” after documents revealed more details about her relationship with Epstein.
The country’s economic crimes unit has launched a corruption investigation into former Prime Minister Thorbjorn Jagland – who once headed the committee that awards the Nobel Peace Prize – over his ties to Epstein. His attorney said Jagland would cooperate.
