Less than a day after appointment: Swedish national security adviser resigns over "sensitive" photos

Sweden’s new National Security Adviser Tobias Thyberg resigned less than 24 hours after his appointment on Thursday, following the emergence of “sensitive” photos linked to an old dating app profile.

“Shortly after the government’s decision yesterday to appoint Tobias Thyberg, entirely new personal information about him emerged that was previously unknown to the Government Offices,” Johan Stuart, State Secretary to Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson, told POLITICO in a statement.

Stuart explained that Thyberg admitted Thursday evening to failing to disclose information during the recruitment process that he was obligated to share.

“This is, of course, serious. He has therefore decided himself not to take the position. A new recruitment process will now begin,” Stuart said, adding that Deputy National Security Adviser Annika Brändström will serve in the role temporarily.

Earlier on Friday, the Swedish newspaper Dagens Nyheter (DN) reported that Thyberg resigned after the publication had asked him about photos described as “sensitive.”

“These are old pictures from an account I previously had on the dating site Grindr. I should have informed [the government] about this but I didn’t. I have therefore said I do not intend to take up the position as national security adviser,” Thyberg told DN.

Thyberg served as Sweden’s ambassador to Afghanistan from 2017 to 2019, ambassador to Ukraine until 2023, and most recently headed the foreign ministry’s unit for Eastern Europe and Central Asia.

Sweden has had only two national security advisers to date, both of whom have left the post under unusual circumstances. Thyberg’s predecessor Henrik Landerholm stepped down in January after a prosecutor launched an investigation into his mishandling of highly classified documents at a conference center in 2023.