Per Borten
 Per Borten    (politician) | ||||||||||||
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| Born | 3 April 1913 | |||||||||||
| Died | 20 January 2005 (Age 91) | |||||||||||
| Nationality | Norwegian | |||||||||||
| Victim of | Norwegian Intelligence Service | |||||||||||
| Party | Centre Party (Norway) | |||||||||||
Norwegian prime minister spied upon by the US and "his own" spooks.
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Per Borten was a Norwegian politician from the Centre Party and the 25th prime minister of Norway from 1965 to 1971. Per Borten is credited for leading the modernization of what was then named Bondepartiet (the Agrarian Party) into today's Centre Party. He was an active opponent of Norway joining the European Union.[1]
Surveillance by the US and Norwegian Intelligence Service
Per Borten stated on TV in 1991 with reference to his time as prime minister:
There is no doubt that the phone was tapped, but I have no idea about who would have done it.[2]
According to Attorney General L. J. Dorenfeldt, the case was investigated for 5 years without anything being able to be proved or disproved.[2]
Borten told in 1999 how:
The prime minister was visited by two US intelligence officers, who asked Borten to leave his office while they worked, allegedly to uncover secret microphones... I know today that these were intelligence people, and I am convinced that they had close contact with the Norwegian intelligence service. ... The most important purpose, by all accounts, was to install the most advanced eavesdropping equipment in my office."[3]
