Pressure is mounting for Lang to resign as head of a French cultural institute over his ties to the convicted sex offender.
France’s foreign minister has said he summoned ex-Culture Minister Jack Lang to a meeting on Sunday, as the country’s financial crimes prosecutors reportedly opened a probe into Lang and his daughter Caroline after revelations in the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein’s files.
Calls mounted Friday for Lang to resign as head of a leading French cultural institute over his ties to the convicted United States paedophile.
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Lang, 86, is the highest-profile French figure caught up in the latest US release of documents linked to the financier who killed himself in 2019 while in prison facing charges of sex trafficking underage girls.
French media reports said Lang, who heads the Arab World Institute (IMA) in Paris, repeatedly appealed to Epstein for funds or favours, while his daughter’s name appears in the company files of an offshore company co-owned with the disgraced US financier.
His daughter Caroline Lang, a film producer, resigned on Monday from her role as head of the Independent Production Union.
Lang, who spent nearly 20 years as culture minister and education minister in different governments, has denied having any knowledge of Epstein’s crimes despite his conviction in 2008 for soliciting a minor for prostitution.
Lang’s name appears more than 600 times in the Epstein files, the Reuters news agency reported.
A mere mention in the files does not imply wrongdoing.
Lang is an eminent figure in French politics and cultural life, who is known for, among other cultural projects, creating France’s annual Festival of Music.
On Wednesday, he refused to step down as president of the cultural hub focused on the Arabic-speaking world.
Pressure has increased, however, and the foreign ministry – which provides half of the institute’s budget – has ordered him to a meeting.
“He has been summoned by the ministry and will be received on Sunday,” Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot was quoted as saying by the AFP news agency on a visit to Erbil in Iraq.
Speaking later from Beirut, Barrot added: “The first elements emerging from these files are new and extremely serious” and would require in-depth examination.
But his priority, he said, was to ensure the proper running of the IMA.
The 12.3 million euros ($14.5m) the IMA receives annually from the foreign ministry accounts for half of the institute’s budget.
France’s financial crimes prosecutors told AFP on Friday they had started a preliminary investigation into Lang and his daughter.
The pair will be investigated for “laundering of aggravated tax-fraud proceeds” over their suspected financial ties with the late US financier, the office said.
“I fear nothing, and I am clean as a whistle,” Lang told French radio RTL on Wednesday.
Storms in European capitals
The release of the Epstein files has rippled across Europe.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer apologised to the victims of Jeffrey Epstein for appointing Peter Mandelson as the United Kingdom’s ambassador to the US despite the diplomat’s close ties to the late sex offender.
Mandelson is being investigated over documents suggesting he passed sensitive government information to Epstein a decade and a half ago.
Members of Norway’s elite, too, are under pressure. Public figures including Crown Princess Mette-Marit and former prime minister and foreign minister Thorbjoern Jagland are all under scrutiny. Norway’s economic crime police unit said on Thursday it was investigating Jagland on suspicion of aggravated corruption.
The crown princess said on Friday she “deeply regretted” her friendship with Epstein and the embarrassment it has caused the royal family.
Other Norwegians facing questions include former foreign minister Boerge Brende, now CEO of the World Economic Forum; Mona Juul, ambassador to Jordan and Iraq; and her husband Terje Roed-Larsen.
In Slovakia, Prime Minister Robert Fico’s national security adviser Miroslav Lajcak has resigned after emails were revealed in which he discussed young women with Epstein.