The Norwegian Epstein network could have been taken straight out of Shakespeare’s «Hamlet». We recognise the deep corruption at the centre of power, where the elite of the realm was infected by lies, betrayal and moral decay.
The famous line «Something is rotten in the state of Denmark» can be rewritten to apply to our own country. What was presented as a «humanitarian superpower» proved to be a morally decayed banana republic!
There is something fundamentally rotten in the highest ranks of the Norwegian state.
The recently released Epstein documents have forced the worm’s nest to the surface. A network of connections has been uncovered that extends deep into the political class, from a future queen to former prime ministers and diplomats.
The Epstein files reveal a pattern of dubious and criminal relationships, sexual excesses, the use of gifts as bribes, compromising and blackmail – probably also espionage. Trust in the institutions of the Norwegian state is shaken to its foundations.
As in «Hamlet», where the ghost of the murdered king at Kronborg Castle reveals secrets and concealed truths, Epstein’s ghost has come from the Metropolitan Correction Centre in New York to Oslo to expose the corrupt networks among the political elite in Norway.
For it is particularly Norway that has come into the spotlight in the wake of the Epstein revelations. None of our neighbouring countries. International media from Al Jazeera to The Guardian write in banner headlines about the many Epstein connections to Norway.
That it is Norway which has primarily come into the spotlight is no coincidence. It is clearly connected with Norwegian Middle East policy, the Oslo Process and the large sack of aid funds which the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (UD) disposes of without control and without concern for where the money ends up.
In the Middle East they have swarmed around the Norwegian sack of money like flies around camel dung. The money has provided access to red carpets and opened doors and association with the global court of politicians, industrial magnates and bureaucrats. But it has also opened the way for the misuse of Norwegian taxpayers’ money and for corruption on a large scale.
The custodians of the sack of money are particularly exposed. When it rains on the priest, it drips on the sexton. We need not go to the wealth of the court at Kronborg, which Claudius cynically exploits to purchase loyalty, grease intrigues, manipulate others and conceal traces.
We find the same here in our own midst, in Oslo. The Royal House as well as the Nobel Committee and the foreign service are stuck in the mire. The ramifications extend further to the Government and probably to several of the 169 members of the Storting. The political rot goes deeper than what has been uncovered thus far.
This is connected with the privatisation of foreign policy, which we witnessed as a consequence of the Labour Party and the LO (Fafo) taking over Middle East policy in connection with the Oslo Process in the early 1990s.
They called it «engagement policy» (engasjementspolitikk). The aim was to build Norway’s reputation as a «humanitarian superpower» by means of the flow of money from the North Sea.
It led to an aid policy without governance and an administration of common funds outside democratic control.
Normal state administrative practice was set aside. Normal control, monitoring, audit and results follow-up mechanisms were suspended. This was legitimised by two moral myths which became guiding for Norwegian aid policy in the years that followed.
The first was that «even if corruption might well occur, it was not so serious, so long as some of the abundance from Norway could reach those in need» («the poor children in Africa»).
The second was that the negotiations, particularly in the Oslo Process and in peace mediation, were so sensitive that everything had to be kept secret. It could not tolerate the light of publicity.
Now we understand that there were several reasons why it could not tolerate the light of publicity. For when it rained on the priest, it also dripped on the sexton.
It dripped on corrupt political elites in the Middle East and in many recipient countries in the Global South.
It dripped on the owners of the large international NGOs, such as the Gates Foundation and the Clinton Foundation and Rød-Larsen’s IPI.
It dripped on the many organisations in the ever-growing humanitarian-political complex in Norway.
And it dripped on the custodians of the large sack of aid money, the political leadership and the highest echelon of officials in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Utenriksdepartementet, UD).
The UD’s administration of Norwegian aid funds mirrors the court at Elsinore, where everyone plays their roles and outwardly poses with diplomatic courtesy and dignity, but where power and self-interest hide behind the lofty ideals.
And as in «Hamlet», where the prince struggles with the legacy of his father’s death, Mette-Marit struggles with the same. The past of the country’s future queen now even threatens the future of the monarchy in Norway.
Jagland’s deep fall most closely resembles King Claudius, a leader who conceals his sins behind the glittering and arrogant façade of power.
The couple Terje Rød-Larsen and Mona Juul are plainly the spies Rosenkrantz and Gyldenstern, who have navigated and operated in a complicated and opaque web of alliances that ultimately strikes back at themselves.
As in «Hamlet», where the tragedy culminates in death and revolt, the country’s political elite must be held to account for their actions. The image of Norway as a moral beacon and a humanitarian superpower has cracked down to its foundations.
As in «Hamlet», a complete clean-up is required. It is necessary in order to restore trust in democracy, the institutions of the state and the politicians who are entrusted with administering the voters’ trust and the voters’ money.
Misjudgement or corruption? Poor judgement or greed? Hubris or a lack of moral antennae? Individual failure or systemic failure? One must be cautious about making oneself police, judge and executioner.
The scale may be sliding. Some have been seized by hubris, have exercised poor judgement and made misjudgements. Strikingly many have shown greed on the edge of corruption, indeed beyond the edge.
Some may perhaps directly or indirectly have been guilty of espionage or have acted in such a way that they could become so. In any event, they will have breached the Security Act (Sikkerhetsloven).
We find the UN power couple Terje Rød-Larsen and Mona Juul, and former PM and Council of Europe-leader Thorbjørn Jagland in the group that has probably made itself guilty of corruption and breaches of the law. Whether this applies to others, time and further investigation will show.
We find Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide, ex-FM and Conservative Party leader Ine Eriksen Søreide, as well as UN Special Envoy Geir O. Pedersen and Torgeir Larsen in the UD in the category that has probably exercised poor judgement and committed gross dereliction of duty.
Børge Brende, leader of the World Economic Forum, appears to stand with one foot in each group. He evidently suffers from hubris, greed and poor judgement. He has evidently made himself guilty of dereliction of duty, possibly also corruption.
Common to them all is that they have been central in a dysfunctional system. They have known what has been going on. And they have allowed it to go on for a number of years, without doing anything about it.
This also applies to the likes of Jonas Gahr Støre, Jens Stoltenberg and Erna Solberg, probably also Kjell Magne Bondevik and Knut Vollebæk. They should be examined in detail and, if appropriate, held accountable.
Until the hour of reckoning arrives, Epstein’s ghost will hang as a dark shadow over Oslo and Norway, just as the ghost from the poisoning hung over Elsinore and Denmark.
The salvation lies in a broad, independent and thorough investigation followed by accountability for all those involved in accordance with the principles of the rule of law. We can have no more cronyism now.
«Hamlet» had no happy ending! Herein lies Shakespeare’s warning.