Tonight, Foreign Minister Anniken Huitfeldt writes in an e-mail to news in detail about what happened in the days when she allegedly became aware of the man’s stock investments. Earlier today, it became known that Økokrim will announce on Thursday or Friday whether an investigation will be opened against Foreign Minister Anniken Huitfeldt (Ap). – I want full transparency, says the foreign minister in a comment to news about Økokrim’s decision. Økokrim did not want to investigate Huitfeldt: – Unfortunate impression – Was never advised to sell shares Huitfeldt writes to news that she has followed the advice she received from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ top official, then Foreign Minister Tore Hattrem, in October 2021. – I was never advised that the man mine should sell its individual shares. At the same time, I am completely open that I should have handled this completely differently. In the e-mail, she repeats that she should have asked her husband what kind of individual shares he had invested in. – In order to be able to assess my competence, I should have been able to see all the share items. That is why I have regretted that I have not sufficiently investigated my own competence, says Huitfeldt. “General advice” news has been sent a written summary of a conversation that took place between Huitfeldt and the Minister for Foreign Affairs a week after she took office, sometime between 18 and 22 October 2021. The minutes were recorded in August this year, and according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, have been approved by both parties. In the minutes, it appears that Foreign Affairs Councilor Hattrem did not ask for specific information “about which companies the husband had shares in or how large the investments were”. – I followed the advice I received from the foreign minister and passed the advice on to my husband, writes Huitfeldt and continues: – As a general advice, he said that the safest thing to do was to invest in funds. Even if he did not ask me to present my husband’s shareholding, I should have done it on my own initiative, writes Huitfeldt to news. Here is the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ minutes. Hattrem had a conversation with the Minister for Foreign Affairs the week after taking office, sometime between the 18th and 22nd. October 2021. Prior to this, political leadership in the new government had had a review of the regulations and guidelines under the auspices of SMK. He asked her, among other things, whether she had shares or other financial instruments, which she denied. She herself only had bank savings. She stated, however, that her husband had placed money in mutual funds, but also some individual shares. In the conversation, he started from the guidelines laid down in the political handbook and explained them in more detail. He referred to the call for caution laid down there for close relatives and the advice to observe precautionary rules with regard to her husband’s share investments. As a general piece of advice, he had said that the safest thing to do was to invest in mutual funds. Hattrem did not ask for specific information about which companies the husband had shares in, or how large the investments were. (Source: The Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ summary of the telephone conversation between Hattrem and Huitfeldt made on 18 August 2023, about the conversation that took place in October 2021) Huitfeldt says that in the conversation with Hattrem she told that she herself only had bank savings, but that the man owned his own company and that he had money invested in mutual funds and some individual shares. Tore Hattrem, who is now Norway’s ambassador to Great Britain, has declined to be interviewed by news. He says he has explained himself to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in detail about the dialogue with Huitfeldt and says that it is the Ministry of Foreign Affairs that will handle the matter further. Did not speak up When asked why she did not inform the Prime Minister’s office about her husband’s share interests during the so-called “vetting conversations” with State Secretary Kristine Kallset, she answers as follows: – I was not asked about or given forms that dealt with spouses. I emphasize that it is not meant as an apology, but an explanation of why I did what I did. Huitfeldt adds that she is “happy about the clarifications from the Legal Department and that the regulations have now been expanded and clarified”. Last week, Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre presented a series of tightening regulations relating to top politicians’ share purchases.
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– Never got advice that my husband should sell – news Norway – Overview of news from different parts of the country
