The new national security adviser to Sweden, Tobias Timberg, resigned today, just a day after his appointment, amid criticism from the country’s prime minister for not disclosing information about photos he posted years ago on a dating site.
Tobias Tiberg, a former diplomatic veteran who served as ambassador to Ukraine and Afghanistan, failed to disclose the information during background checks, the government said.
The resignation took place just months after Tiberg’s predecessor at the important position resigned and was accused of negligent handling of confidential information.
Tiberg has not currently responded to Reuters news agency requests for comment. But in a statement to Dagens Nyheter newspaper, Tiberg said he had failed to disclose the existence of the photos.
“These are old photos from an account I had in the past on the dating site Grindr. I should have informed about it, but I didn’t,” he pointed out, according to DN.
Reuters cannot independently verify the content of the photos from an independent source. Background checks on a candidate for sensitive government positions typically require disclosure of any information that could potentially make someone vulnerable to blackmail.
Prime Minister Ulf Christerson said the information should have seen the light of day a long time ago. “It is a systemic failure of this kind of information not to have been revealed,” Kristerson told reporters on the sidelines of a meeting in Norway.
Tibberg was due to travel to Oslo today with the Swedish prime minister for a summit attended by northern European leaders, but the adviser’s participation was cancelled.
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