Odd Roger Enoksen was defense minister for less than a year. The 67-year-old has now resigned.
Odd Roger Enoksen on his appointment as Secretary of Defense in October 2021.
(dpa) 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 Störe said at a press conference in Oslo on Saturday 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. However, he would never have appointed Enoksen as minister if he had known about the relationship when the government was formed in October 2021, Störe made clear.
Enoksen, now 67, had previously confirmed to the newspaper “Verdens Gang” that he had had a relationship with a young woman and regretted 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. Enoksen was 50 at the time, the politically interested woman was only 18. According to the information, the two began a sexual relationship after this trip.
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 Störe since the end of 2021.