Sweden's national security adviser quits over dating site images one day into job
Sweden 's new national security adviser abruptly resigned on Friday, just one day after his appointment, amid criticism from the prime minister that he failed to disclose information regarding images published years ago on a dating website.
Tobias Thyberg, a foreign service veteran who in previous roles served as ambassador to both Ukraine and Afghanistan, had omitted the information during security background checks, the government said.
The resignation comes just months after Thyberg's predecessor in the high-profile job stepped down and was charged with negligent handling of classified information.
Thyberg did not immediately respond requests for comment on Friday.
But in a statement to daily Dagens Nyheter, Thyberg said that he had failed to disclose the existence of the images.
"These are old pictures from an account I previously had on the dating site Grindr. I should have informed about this, but I did not," he said, according to DN.
Background checks for sensitive government jobs typically require the disclosure of any information that could potentially make someone vulnerable to blackmail.
Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said the information should have come to light a long time ago.
"It is a systemic failure that this kind of information has not been brought forward," Kristersson told reporters on the sidelines of a conference in Norway.
Thyberg had been due to travel to Oslo on Friday with the prime minister for a meeting of northern European leaders, but the adviser's participation was cancelled.
On Thursday Sweden said it will donate 20 million crowns ($2.1 million) to Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty after the administration of President Donald Trump ordered a freeze of federal grants to the media outlet.
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty was set up during the Cold War to reach people in communist-run states. The Prague-based outlet broadcasts to countries in Eastern Europe, including Russia and Ukraine.
"This decision is part of our continued work to support journalists and independent media," the Swedish government said in a statement.
"After the U.S. withdrew its support for Radio Free Europe, people in many countries risk losing access to free media," it said.
President Trump in March ordered the termination of the grants as part of sweeping efforts to downsize the U.S. government, in what may devastate a rare source of reliable news in authoritarian countries.
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