Odd Roger Enoksen: Norwegian minister resigns after affair

Odd Roger Enoksen
Affair with an 18-year-old: Norwegian minister resigns
Norway’s Defense Minister Odd Roger Enoksen admitted to having a relationship with a much younger woman
© -/YNA/dpa/ dpa-infocom GmbH
Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre finds clear words: He would never have made Odd Roger Enoksen Minister if he had known about this affair.
Norway’s Defense Minister Odd Roger Enoksen is resigning from his post because he had a sexual relationship with a much younger woman several years ago.
Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre said at a press conference in Oslo that the minister’s resignation was the right decision and necessary after what had become known in the case. He could not comment on details. Støre made it clear that he would never have appointed Enoksen as minister if he had known about the relationship when the government was formed in October 2021.
Enoksen, now 67, had previously confirmed to the newspaper “Verdens Gang” that he had had a relationship with a young woman and that he regrets this relationship. He met the student at a meeting in northern Norway in 2005 before she met him again later on a school trip to the Norwegian Parliament.
Odd Roger Enoksen was 50 years old at Affair
Enoksen was 50 at the time, the politically interested woman was only 18. After this trip, the two reportedly began a sexual relationship.
Enoksen told the “VG” that ministers could also have a private life and an extramarital relationship. He did not have a position of power over her. The woman said the relationship had shaped her life for 15 years, and that she felt shame, guilt and fear that she would not be believed.
Enoksen was a member of parliament for his peasant Center Party in 2005 and was appointed oil and energy minister at the end of the year. He has been Minister of Defense under Støre since the end of 2021.