Norway’s prime minister, Erna Solberg, is being investigated after revelations that she and her family broke the country’s Covid-19 restrictions, police have said.
Solberg gathered her family in the ski resort town of Geilo for her 60th birthday at the end of February, in breach of restrictions and recommendations on limiting social interactions, the public broadcaster NRK revealed on Thursday.
“Against the background of information that has surfaced through the press, together with the prime minister’s own statements, police have decided to initiate an investigation tied to a potential breach of the infectious disease regulation,” police said in a statement on Friday.
“The matter will then be evaluated by the prosecution authority in reference to a potential legal sanction.”
Solberg issued a mea culpa on her Facebook page on Thursday evening.
“I am sorry that my family and I have broken the corona regulations, that should never have happened. We of course should have followed all the recommendations, as I have asked you to do,” she wrote. “I’m especially thinking of all those who have had to cancel things they have looked forward to, a birthday with classmates, a celebration with friends or anything else that is important.
“I understand those who get angry and disappointed over this. I have made a mistake and for that I want to say I’m sorry.”
In addition to the legal consequences, the affair could have ramifications for her political career as the country prepares for elections in September.
Thirteen members of Solberg’s family dined at a restaurant on 25 February – in her absence, because she had to go to hospital with eye problems – even though rules limited the number of people attending a private event in a public space to 10.
She and her relatives then violated another recommendation the next day by having 14 people, four more than the limit, round to eat sushi at her flat.
The reports prompted a furore on social media, with some calling for her resignation.
“If the PRIME MINISTER, with hordes of advisors, can’t figure out the rules, it’s TOTALLY UNREASONABLE to expect the average person to do so,” one Twitter user wrote.