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🇮🇸 Iceland /Elections & Politics

Icelandic minister criticized for attacking newspaper over EU talks report

From Morgunblaðið · () Icelandic

Translated from Icelandic, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

News Named sources Context piece
  • Icelandic Foreign Minister Þorgerður Katrín Gunnarsdóttir is criticized for repeatedly attacking the newspaper Morgunblaðið.
  • A member of parliament claims Gunnarsdóttir's communications with Dutch Prime Minister Rob Jetten regarding EU accession talks are not documented in her official correspondence logs.
  • The criticism suggests Gunnarsdóttir should address policy critiques substantively rather than attacking the media.

Iceland's Foreign Minister Þorgerður Katrín Gunnarsdóttir faces criticism for her public attacks on the newspaper Morgunblaðið, with a member of parliament suggesting her approach is inappropriate.

It says a lot that the Minister of Foreign Affairs repeatedly attacks Morgunblaðið. I'm afraid she wouldn't consider such conduct exemplary if it came from Donald Trump, the President of the United States.

— Diljá Mist EinarsdóttirEinarsdóttir criticized Gunnarsdóttir's attacks on the newspaper.

Diljá Mist Einarsdóttir, an MP for the Independence Party, stated on Facebook that Gunnarsdóttir's repeated criticism of Morgunblaðið is telling. Einarsdóttir expressed concern that the minister would not consider such behavior exemplary if it came from a figure like U.S. President Donald Trump.

It would be desirable if EU accession supporters would answer criticism factually and substantively instead of resorting to misrepresentations and insinuations.

— Diljá Mist EinarsdóttirEinarsdóttir called for substantive debate on EU accession.

The controversy stems from Gunnarsdóttir's comments to the media outlet Vísir, where she accused Morgunblaðið of serving special interests by reporting on discussions in the Dutch parliament. These discussions concerned the potential accession talks between Iceland and the European Union, specifically regarding the EU's common fisheries policy, as confirmed by Dutch Prime Minister Rob Jetten.

After repeated requests from us in the parliamentary committee on foreign affairs, we were provided with an overview of the foreign minister's communications, and as far as I can see, there are no communications with the Prime Minister of the Netherlands.

— Diljá Mist EinarsdóttirEinarsdóttir stated that official records did not show communication between Gunnarsdóttir and the Dutch PM.

Einarsdóttir argued that proponents of EU membership should respond to criticism with substantive arguments rather than resorting to misrepresentations. She also noted that Gunnarsdóttir's official correspondence logs, requested by the opposition, do not appear to contain records of communication with Jetten on this matter. Einarsdóttir concluded that accusing a media outlet of ulterior motives for reporting factual news is a poor reflection on the foreign minister.

It looks bad for the foreign minister to accuse a media outlet of ulterior motives and vested interests simply for publishing confirmed and true news and drawing attention to discussions like these.

— Diljá Mist EinarsdóttirEinarsdóttir commented on the foreign minister's accusations against the media.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by Morgunblaðið in Icelandic. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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