OSLO - Norway’s foreign ministry on Sunday announced that a senior ambassador, Mona Juul, has stepped down following what officials described as a "serious failure of judgment" related to contacts with the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. The move follows an earlier suspension from her role as ambassador to Jordan and Iraq while the ministry investigates links found in a large trove of files released by the United States government.
Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide issued a statement saying: "Juul’s contact with convicted sex offender Epstein has shown a serious failure of judgment. The case makes it difficult to rebuild the trust that the role requires." The ministry said Juul, 66, had been suspended earlier in the week pending an internal inquiry into those ties.
Juul, who previously served as a junior government minister and has represented Norway as ambassador to Israel, Britain and at the United Nations, voluntarily left her position as the controversy intensified. Her lawyer, Thomas Skjelbred, said she resigned because the current circumstances made it impossible for her to perform her duties.
Skjelbred added in a statement: "Mona Juul will continue to cooperate fully with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to help ensure that all relevant facts in the matter come to light."
The foreign ministry also said it had begun a review of former grants to the International Peace Institute (IPI), a New York-based think tank that was led by Juul's husband, Terje Roed-Larsen, until 2020. The review follows scrutiny of links appearing in the released files.
Roed-Larsen, 78, who briefly served as a cabinet minister in 1996, has apologised several times for his connection to Epstein. His lawyer, John Christian Elden, said: "The National Audit Office has already investigated this several years ago, but Terje Roed-Larsen naturally has no objections to this being done again." IPI did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Beyond Norway, the reverberations of the revelations reached Britain, where Morgan McSweeney, chief of staff to Prime Minister Keir Starmer, resigned on Sunday. McSweeney said he took responsibility for advising the prime minister to appoint Peter Mandelson as ambassador to the U.S. despite Mandelsons known links to Epstein.
The controversy has pulled in other notable Norwegians. Crown Princess Mette-Marit issued another apology on Friday via a palace statement, specifically addressing the king and queen.
Background and institutional questions
Juul and Roed-Larsen rose to prominence as part of a small group of diplomats involved in facilitating the 1993-1995 Oslo Accords. The accords were viewed at the time as a breakthrough in the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians, though a lasting peace did not follow. The current inquiries focus narrowly on the contacts and links revealed by the released U.S. files and the repercussions for public trust and institutional oversight.
The ministry's announcement and the linked reviews underline an immediate emphasis on restoring confidence in diplomatic appointments and in how public funds and grants have been administered to external organisations linked to senior figures.
What happens next
- Juul has said she will cooperate fully with the ministry's inquiry to clarify the facts.
- The ministry has opened a review of past grants to IPI to determine whether previous funding decisions warrant further scrutiny.
- Other figures with links to Epstein have faced resignations and renewed public apologies, signalling continued reputational and political fallout.