Thorbjørn Jagland, who has been lobbying for Russian interests in Europe for years for the position of the Secretary General of the Council of Europe, has been hospitalized. His health has deteriorated after Norway opened a criminal investigation into corruption, evidence of which has been found in the Epstein files, his lawyer, Anders Brosvit, says, as per Bloomberg.
Jagland previously served as chair of the Nobel Committee (2009–2015) and Norway's prime minister.
Jagland’s diplomatic immunity has been revoked
The ongoing investigation concerns Jagland’s ties to American financier Jeffrey Epstein after his premiership in the 1990s. As part of the case, Jagland’s diplomatic immunity has been revoked, making him subject to official questioning and criminal prosecution.
Norwegian authorities opened the corruption investigation, marking the first time in Scandinavia that a former prime minister has faced such scrutiny. The probe focuses on Jagland’s post-premiership activities and his connections to international financial circles, including Epstein.
Ties with the Soviet Union and the codename
In 1990, KGB Major Mikhail Butkov, operating undercover as a journalist in Oslo, was ordered from Moscow to reestablish contact with a Norwegian politician codenamed “Yuri”. Butkov, a double agent for British and Norwegian intelligence, reported that “Yuri” was Jagland, then an influential secretary of the Norwegian Labour Party.
According to a KGB telegram received by Butkov, Jagland had been cultivated in the 1970s while leading the party’s youth wing. He was considered a “useful source of political information” and a “channel for active measures”, including Soviet campaigns for nuclear-free zones in Scandinavia.
