New figures cast a harsh light on what the so-called peace process in the Middle East in fact cost Norwegian taxpayers.
When Terje Rød-Larsen operated as a top diplomat for the state in 1993, he ensured that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs was invoiced for an amount corresponding to twice the salary of Norway’s then Minister of Foreign Affairs.
Invoiced for Millions
It is Klassekampen that has obtained access to old accounts from the research foundation Fafo. The documents show that Fafo sent an invoice to the state marked “peace negotiations in the Middle East” totalling NOK 5.9 million. In today’s monetary value, this corresponds to a full NOK 12 million.
Of this, NOK 160,000 was allocated to cover two thirds of Rød-Larsen’s time over a three-month period towards the end of 1993. This yielded an actual monthly salary of NOK 80,000. By comparison, a Member of the Storting at that time earned NOK 315,000 per year, while the Minister of Foreign Affairs had to make do with NOK 475,000. Rød-Larsen thus secured remuneration which on an annual basis approached NOK 1 million in 1993.
Egeland Will Not Respond
Jan Egeland was State Secretary in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs at this time, and is regarded as one of the most central actors behind the failed Oslo Agreement (Oslo-avtalen). He does not, however, wish to comment on the astronomical level of salary. Egeland dismisses the questions by asserting that he simply has no knowledge of what Rød-Larsen earned.
Fafo, for its part, defends the substantial invoice. Managing Director Hanne Cecilie Kavli states that such an invoice would probably not exclusively explain the salary level of a single researcher, since hourly rates are also to cover shared costs such as rent and administration. The invoice from Fafo in any case included enormous sums for other purposes, including NOK 1.4 million for travel and nearly NOK 1 million for various hotel stays.
Criticises the Press
Terje Rød-Larsen is currently under investigation by Økokrim for complicity in gross corruption in the wake of the scandals surrounding Jeffrey Epstein and the think tank International Peace Institute. Rød-Larsen’s lawyer John Christian Elden reacts to the fact that Klassekampen is now drawing attention to the income from 1993. The lawyer considers it somewhat strange to raise this as a problem today, and he questions the editorial assessments behind the article.
The lucrative handling of taxpayers’ money, however, continued long after the Oslo process. As head of the scandal-ridden peace foundation in New York, Rød-Larsen received an annual salary of over NOK 4.5 million towards the end of his period.
This was to a large extent financed by the NOK 130 million which the Ministry of Foreign Affairs willingly transferred to the organisation while he was at the helm.