The Klaustur Affair, also known in Iceland as Klaustur Recordings ''(Klaustursupptökurnar)'' or Klausturgate was a political scandal in

Iceland Iceland is a Nordic countries, Nordic island country between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between North America and Europe. It is culturally and politically linked with Europe and is the regi ...

triggered by audio recordings of a group

Althing The (; ), anglicised as Althingi or Althing, is the Parliamentary sovereignty, supreme Parliament, national parliament of Iceland. It is the oldest surviving parliament in the world. The Althing was founded in 930 at ('Thing (assembly), thing ...

parliamentarians made without their knowledge at the

Reykjavík Reykjavík is the Capital city, capital and largest city in Iceland. It is located in southwestern Iceland on the southern shore of Faxaflói, the Faxaflói Bay. With a latitude of 64°08′ N, the city is List of northernmost items, the worl ...

bar ''Klaustur'' in late November, 2018. In the recordings, the parliamentarians make sexist remarks about some of their colleagues and discuss the appointment of an ambassador as a political favour.

Events

Parliamentarian and former Prime Minister

Sigmundur Davíð Gunnlaugsson Sigmundur Davíð Gunnlaugsson (; born 12 March 1975) is an Icelandic politician who was the prime minister of Iceland from May 2013 until April 2016. He was also chairman of the Progressive Party from 2009 to October 2016. He was elected to t ...

from the Centre Party, his fellow caucus members

Gunnar Bragi Sveinsson Gunnar Bragi Sveinsson (born 9 June 1968) is an Icelandic politician for the Centre Party. He is a member of the Althingi (Iceland's parliament) for the Centre Party for the Northwest of Iceland constituency since 2017. He was the chairman of ...

Anna Kolbrún Árnadóttir Anna Kolbrún Árnadóttir (16 April 1970 – 9 May 2023) was an Icelandic politician. She was a member of Alþingi from 2017 to 2021 as a member of the Centre Party. She served as a deputy member from 2021 until her death. Before becoming a m ...

and Bergþór Ólason, and

Karl Gauti Hjaltason Karl Gauti Hjaltason is an Icelandic politician and former police officer. He was a member of Althing from 2017 to 2021 and has been serving as MP since 2024. Formerly, he was a part of People's Party of Iceland until he was expelled as part of t ...

and

Ólafur Ísleifsson Ólafur Ísleifsson (born 10 February 1955 in Reykjavík) is an Icelandic economist and politician from the Centre Party (Iceland), Centre Party. He has represented Reykjavík North (Althing constituency), Reykjavik North in the Parliament of Icela ...

of the People's Party met on the evening of 20 November 2018 at Klaustur. Bára Halldórsdóttir, another bar patron, recognized Sigmundur Davíð and began surreptitiously recording the group after overhearing them make sexist remarks about another parliamentarian. The group paid no attention to Bára. They noticed her as they prepared to leave, but thought she was a foreign tourist. Bára sent the recordings to the media under a pseudonym.

Contents of the recordings

The group can be heard making insulting and misogynistic remarks about several female Icelandic government ministers, parliamentarians, and other politicians, as well as mocking the

Me Too movement #MeToo is a social movement and Consciousness raising, awareness campaign against sexual abuse, sexual harassment and rape culture, in which women publicize their experiences of sexual abuse or sexual harassment. The phrase "Me Too" was init ...

. In addition, Gunnar Bragi can be heard discussing his appointment of Geir H. Haarde as ambassador to the United States in 2014. Gunnar Bragi says that he agreed to appoint Geir, a former Prime Minister of Iceland convicted of misconduct in office, in order to curry favor with the Independence Party and thereby receive an ambassadorial position himself in the future. He also states that he appointed then member of parliament of the

Left-Green Movement The Left-Green Movement (, ), also known by its short-form name Vinstri græn (VG), is an eco-socialist political party in Iceland. Since the 2024 Icelandic parliamentary election, the party has had no members in the Althing. The party chairper ...

, Árni Þór Sigurðsson, as ambassador to Finland in order to draw the public's attention away from Geir's appointment.

Reaction

The scandal resulted in public protest, including the presentation of a list of demands to the Speaker of the Althing, Steingrímur J. Sigfússon, who apologized to the nation. Prime Minister

Katrín Jakobsdóttir Katrín Jakobsdóttir (; born 1 February 1976) is an Icelandic former politician who served as the prime minister of Iceland from December 2017 to April 2024 and was a member of the Althing for the Reykjavík North constituency from 2007 to 202 ...

expressed disappointment with the parliamentarians and suggested that the scandal could damage the reputation of the Althing. Several of the parliamentarians on the recording also issued public apologies. Karl Gauti Hjaltason and Ólafur Ísleifsson were expelled from the People's Party. Árni Þór Sigurðsson released a public statement denying any involvement in corrupt dealings and emphasizing his qualifications for the ambassadorship.

References

November 2018 in Europe 2018 in Iceland 2018 in politics Political scandals in Iceland Politics of Iceland {{Iceland-poli-stub