Enoksen states in an email to NTB that he has informed the Prime Minister that he will resign.
– I want to apologize to those I have hurt. I have made several bad choices and assessments, and will give an unreserved excuse that my actions have made life more difficult for others, says Enoksen.
– I have today informed my party leader Trygve Slagsvold Vedum, and Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre, that I want to resign as Minister of Defense, Enoksen says.
Also read: VG: Minister of Defense Odd Roger Enoksen apologizes for the 18-year-old he met in 2005
Støre: Accepts the desire to withdraw
Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre tells NTB that he accepts Enoksen’s wish to resign as Minister of Defense.
– Odd Roger Enoksen has today informed me that he wants to resign as Minister of Defense. It is a decision I have accepted and believe is correct, says Støre.
– I was made aware of the case that makes Enoksen withdraw, last night. I do not want to comment on the content, but I think what emerges in the case is of a nature that is not compatible with the trust one is dependent on as a minister, something I have conveyed directly to Enoksen. Therefore, it is right that he apologizes and resigns, says Støre.
The Prime Minister states that in a short time he will return to who takes over the job as Minister of Defense.
Vedum: – Absolutely necessary
The Center Party’s leader Trygve Slagsvold Vedum (Sp) says that Odd Roger Enoksen had to resign as Minister of Defense.
– It was a necessary and completely correct assessment of Enoksen to ask to resign as Minister of Defense, says Vedum.
– A human being is more than his individual actions, but what has emerged is not compatible with the trust needed to be able to continue in the role of minister. My thoughts go to those who have and have had difficulties as a result of his actions, says the party leader.
Also read: Metoo notice of minister: Met him naked in the ladies’ locker room
Had relationship with 18-year-old in 2005
The Center Party politician adds that it has been an honor to serve as Minister of Defense for Norway in a demanding time.
Enoksen said on Saturday VG he apologizes and that he should not have had the relationship with the young woman, who first greeted him during a social gathering in northern Norway in 2005, before she met him on a school trip to the Storting. After this trip, the relationship started.
However, the Minister of Defense says that a minister also has a private life and can have relationships outside of marriage. Enoksen is 67 years old now and was 50 years old in 2005.
– It was not a situation where I had a position of power over her, Enoksen says to VG.
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