BREAKING: Minister Sacked (DETAILS)
On Monday, Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store removed Foreign Minister Anniken Huitfeldt from her position in the wake of a share purchasing scandal. This decision was part of a larger reshuffling of his center-left government.
Huitfeldt, who has long been considered a protégé of Store, confessed on August 30 that her husband had purchased shares “in much larger volumes than (she) previously believed” after she assumed the role of foreign minister in 2021.
These investments, which included shares in the defense group Kongsberg Gruppen, a company that benefitted from Norwegian state contracts during the conflict in Ukraine, raised concerns about potential conflicts of interest.
“I deeply apologize for having made mistakes linked to my impartiality,” stated the 53-year-old Labour minister.
A parliamentary committee has launched an inquiry into the matter. However, the police have stated that they do not see a need for further investigation.
“The issue of share purchases and sales is one of the reasons for her departure, but it is not the only one,” Store informed reporters, describing it as a “difficult decision.”
The prime minister acknowledged that voter distrust, as evidenced by his Labour party’s poor performance in local elections in early September, also played a role.
“I believe Anniken’s version that she was not aware” of her husband’s stock trades, he affirmed.
Huitfeldt will be succeeded by Espen Barth Eide, who previously held the position from 2011 to 2012 and until Monday, served as the minister for climate and the environment.
Following the Huitfeldt scandal, it emerged that the husband of Conservative opposition leader Erna Solberg had, largely unbeknownst to her, carried out thousands of stock transactions while she was prime minister from 2013 to 2021.
Political analysts anticipate that Huitfeldt’s departure will make it easier for Store to take a more aggressive stance against Solberg, potentially diminishing her chances—currently seen as high—of regaining power in the 2025 elections.
