Former Norwegian Prime Minister Thorbjørn Jagland, who briefly held the position in the 1990s, was charged with “aggravated corruption” for alleged ties to Jeffrey Epstein. Norwegian police reportedly conducted searches of properties owned by the former prime minister as part of a corruption investigation. Jagland had previously been protected by diplomatic immunity that came from his work with the Council of Europe. However, that immunity has been waived. “The Council of Europe’s Committee of Ministers has waived the immunity of former Secretary General Thorbjørn Jagland following a request from the Norwegian authorities to pursue proceedings relating to allegations of aggravated corruption,” the Council of Europe stated. The Council of Europe’s Committee of Ministers has waived the immunity of former Secretary General Thorbjørn Jagland following a request from the Norwegian authorities to pursue proceedings relating to allegations of aggravated corruption.https://t.co/rTSd83edQw — Council of Europe (@coe) February 11, 2026 More from The New York Times: Economic crime investigators last week opened an inquiry into the ties between Mr. Epstein, the disgraced financier who had cultivated connections among the global elite before his death by suicide in a New York jail in 2019, and Mr. Jagland, who has also served as a foreign minister and a head of the Norwegian Nobel Committee. They were looking into “whether gifts, travel and loans were received in connection with his position,” investigators said. Files released by the Department of Justice show Mr. Epstein and Mr. Jagland were close, exchanging warm messages about meals, meetings and much more. For example, in a February 2015 email, Mr. Jagland writes to an unidentified individual who appears to be an assistant in emails under the subject line “Jeffrey Epstein” that he is coming to Paris and had asked Mr. Epstein if he could “stay at his flat.” The recipient soon after writes that Mr. Epstein has confirmed “you may stay at his flat!” Other prominently placed Norwegians are also facing new scrutiny, including Crown Princess Mette-Marit, Borge Brende, an ex-foreign minister who now runs the World Economic Forum, and Mona Juul, who this week was suspended from her role as ambassador to Jordan and quickly resigned. There has been fallout from the release of the Epstein files around the world, and though seemingly no region’s elites have been immune, Norway has been hard hit. The charge against Mr. Jagland came as an oversight committee approved open hearings in an Epstein inquiry and submitted a list of questions to the government regarding foreign ministry activities, payments, security measures and more based on concerns arising from revelations in the files. Okokrim, Norway’s investigative agency for economic and environmental crime, will question Jagland as part of its investigation. “Jagland wishes to contribute to ensuring that the case is thoroughly clarified, and the next step is that he will appear for questioning by Okokrim – as he himself has stated he wants,” said Anders Brosveet, his lawyer, according to Al Jazeera. Norway is undergoing a reckoning after leading political figures, including former Premier Thorbjorn Jagland were revealed to have had ties to sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. https://t.co/bGF5jPVXue — Bloomberg (@business) February 13, 2026 Al Jazeera noted: Police told the council in the request that they are investigating whether the benefits Jagland may have received could amount to “passive bribery”. Okokrim cited repeated instances, between 2011 and 2018, when Jagland and/or members of his family made use of Epstein’s apartments in Paris and New York, as well as stays at his property in Palm Beach, Florida. “For at least one of these private vacations, travel expenses for six adults appear to have been covered by Mr. Epstein,” Okokrim wrote. After previously maintaining that his ties with Epstein were part of normal diplomatic activities, Jagland told the newspaper Aftenposten this month that he had shown “poor judgement”.