A secret recording made of the son of Jón Gunnarsson, former Minister of Justice and current special representative to Prime Minister Bjarni Benediktsson in his capacity as interim Minister of Fisheries, details a story regarding possible quid pro quo and conflict of interest regarding whale hunting in Iceland. Heimildin reports the story in-depth.
Whaling licenses
Hvalur hf. is the last active fin whaling company in Iceland. In June 2023, then-Minister of Fisheries Svandís Svavarsdóttir issued a temporary ban on fin whale hunting, on the day the hunt was to begin. This ban was later ruled unlawful, and prompted heated criticism from the Independence Party; Svandís is from the Left-Green Movement who, along with the Progressive Party, comprised Parliament’s ruling coalition.
Amongst the most vocal critics of the ban was Independence Party MP Jón Gunnarsson, who accused Svandís of incurring tremendous costs on Hvalur and the Icelandic government.
Fast forward to last October 13th, when Prime Minister and Independence Party chair Bjarni Benediktsson announced he was ending the coalition, prompting snap elections for November 30 and the formation of a caretaker government. He is now also the interim Minister of Food, Agriculture and Fisheries, and appointed Jón Gunnarsson as his special advisory to this ministry, at the same time as Hvalur’s application to hunt is on Bjarni’s desk. This appointment was made on the same day Jón accepted being fifth place on the Independence Party’s list of candidates for the Southwest Iceland voting district. According to polls, fifth place is unlikely to land Jón a seat in Parliament after the elections.
The recording
Late last week, a secret recording made by undisclosed parties but reportedly the Israeli intelligence company Black Cube, began to circulate amongst Icelandic journalists. The recording was reportedly conducted by someone posing as a wealthy Swiss investor expressing an interest in investing in real estate from Gunnar Bergmann, former chairman of the Whale Hunters’ Association and son of Jón Gunnarsson. Gunnar was the subject of the most contentious part of the recording.
Gunnar is reported to be heard saying to the “Swiss investor” on the recording: “In the end, [Jón] said [to Bjarni], ‘OK, I’m ready to accept fifth seat. But you have to do something for me.’ Because I know he’s on his way to quitting. So we really don’t care about anything else right now. That would be a pretty good legacy to leave behind.”
For context: the Independence Party held their primaries last October 20. Minister of Finance Þórdís Kolbrún Reykfjörð Gylfadóttir announced that she was running for second seat in the Southwest District at that time, and Jón had made no secret about his dissatisfaction with Þórdís running in that district, directly against him, ultimately winning the seat. Morgunblaðið would then report that Hvalur’s application for whaling reached the Ministry of Fisheries at some point from October 22 through October 24. On October 24, Jón announced he was running for fifth seat; the next day, it was reported that Jón had been appointed as “special representative” to the Ministry of Fisheries.
Gunnar added that his father does not have to worry about retiring, as he could always secure a directorship at Hvalur hf. He is also heard explaining that Jón had sought second seat in the Southwest District, but was asked personally by Bjarni to accept fifth seat instead, prompting Jón’s request for something in return. Gunnar then continues, explaining that “no whaling company has a license to hunt whales because the Left-Greens had [the Fishing] Ministry, and they ruined it. The first thing Jón did was to get in there and say that he intended …”
“… to take care of it?”, the “Swiss investor” is heard asking.
“Yes,” Gunnar says.
“And the Prime Minister agreed, I presume?”
“Yes, he did. So now my father works in the government.” Gunnar later adds that there are two other applications for whale hunting–albeit for minke whales rather than fin whales–and that the plan is to approve all three of these licenses before election day on November 30.
“But the consequences will be … we don’t know,” Gunnar says. “But I don’t think it will hurt our party. Everyone else will go crazy over this. But many who have left the party will return.”
Conflict of interest
Jón has previously been criticised for being unfit for his position of power regarding Hvalur’s potential hunting license, on account of his son’s history with whale hunting. But this is not the only possible conflict of interest. As Heimildin details, Jón has long been a friend of Kristján Loftsson, the CEO of Hvalur hf., and Jón has posted photos of the two of them on Facebook, most notably when Kristján was a member of Iceland’s delegation to the International Whaling Commission last September.
Gunnar underlines this in the recording, saying in part, “You don’t get to meet [Kristján] and become a good friend of his after one or two meetings. It took [Jón and Kristján] many years to become good friends. But when you’re in, you’re definitely in.”
Accusations of spying and trickery
Shortly after receiving the recording, Heimildin reached out to both Gunnar and Jón to answer some questions about what was discussed. Gunnar would not answer as to whether or not he spoke untruthfully in the recording but said it was possible, otherwise he had no comment.
For his part, Jón responded to Heimildin saying in part: “The lies contained in your questions are not worthy of an answer, as there is no basis for anything implied. I am sorry that you and Heimildin have stooped so low as to drag my innocent son into your attempts to hit me politically. I doubt that it is possible to stoop so low under the guise of journalism.”
He has furthermore called the recording illegal, wanting the police to investigate the matter, and added that he received his position through his own professional expertise; not quid pro quo.
“I have a thick skin when it comes to things like this,” Jón told reporters. “You’ve run into a lot of trouble in almost 18 years in politics, but of course my children are just very upset about this, and I and the family are very upset that it has come to this point. I have kept them safe from politics but it doesn’t seem to be enough and it is something we have to deal with together.”
