Sweden’s new national security adviser quits over dating site images

(Damir K / Pexels.com)

OSLO -- 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 to Reuters 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.

Reuters could not independently verify information about the content of the images.

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.

Reporting by Terje Solsvik; Editing by Alex Richardson, Reuters