Swedish security adviser quits over dating site images
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.
Swedish 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.
Sweden's new national security adviser has abruptly resigned, just a 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.
Swedish 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.
Sweden's new national security adviser has abruptly resigned, just a 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.
Swedish 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.
Sweden's new national security adviser has abruptly resigned, just a 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.
Swedish 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.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Sydney Morning Herald
13 hours ago
- Sydney Morning Herald
The Chinese political bribery scandal that's rattling Europe
While prosecutors in Brussels did not name those charged, media reports have identified some members of parliament – known as MEPs – and their staff. The payments reported, however, appeared relatively modest. One report said more than €45,000 ($81,000) was transferred to a lobbyist and this was used to pay €6,700 to a member of parliament and about €16,000 to aides. Transparency International EU director Nick Aiossa said the charges demonstrated the lack of action in the parliament to stop corruption. 'The allegations that have been reported upon certainly point to a potential complex corruption scheme involving MEPs, their staff, Huawei and other legal entities,' he told this masthead. In a setback for prosecutors, Italian MEP Giusi Princi went public this month about claims by prosecutors that she attended a dinner with Huawei in Brussels in June last year. She was not an MEP at that time and was in her home region of Calabria on the date of the dinner, attending an event with her daughter. Loading 'To this day I cannot understand how they could have made such a blatant mistake,' Princi told Agence France-Presse. That mistake raised questions about whether Belgian prosecutors had their facts right – or whether the case should be investigated instead by stronger EU authorities. Huawei has insisted in statements over several months that it had a 'zero-tolerance policy toward corruption or other wrongdoing' and was complying with the law. Several of the politicians who put their names to the 2021 letter have told the media they received no payments from the company. Xi Jinping will host von der Leyen in Beijing on Thursday to mark 50 years of diplomatic recognition – the EU's predecessor recognised mainland China in 1975, 2½ years after Australia did the same – but against the backdrop of rising tensions. Von der Leyen has warned against China using its vast production capacity to flood markets and ruin competitors, and says it denies fair access to its market for EU companies. 'China is running the largest trade surplus in the history of humankind. Its trade surplus with our Union has surpassed €300 billion last year. And this is while it is getting harder and harder for European companies to do business in China,' she told legislators on July 9. The major dispute between the two sides, however, is Ukraine, because of China's economic support for Russia and the supply of Chinese technologies that find their way into Russian weapons. 'China's unyielding support for Russia is creating heightened instability and insecurity here in Europe,' von der Leyen said. 'We can say that China is de facto enabling Russia's war economy. We cannot accept this.' The lobbying concerns in Brussels are not only about Chinese influence but the broader question of ethics in parliament after an earlier uproar over payments from Qatar. Dubbed Qatargate and seen as the biggest scandal of its kind in decades, the affair began with allegations the Gulf state paid members of parliament to curry favour in Brussels. While some MEPs have been charged, the case has not been decided in court. Corporate Europe Observatory, a non-profit campaign group, has named Huawei as one of the top tech lobbyists in Brussels, with a budget of more than €2 million and 11 full-time lobbyists, according to its own declarations. 'We already have a transparency register at the EU level that repressive regime lobbyists easily bypass because it is weak, voluntary, and poorly enforced,' it said, naming China, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. Aiossa, from Transparency International, said the European Union had made some progress on transparency, for instance by disclosing meetings between lobbyists and politicians, but was failing on ethics. Loading 'The Huawei case is crucially important because it demonstrates that the European Parliament needs to have much stronger and robust integrity and anti-corruption frameworks in place to prevent these scandals,' he said. 'There was a moment in the wake of Qatargate when they could have been brave and brought forward ambitious reforms. They didn't do it, which has led to the current Huawei scandal.'
The Age
13 hours ago
- The Age
The Chinese political bribery scandal that's rattling Europe
While prosecutors in Brussels did not name those charged, media reports have identified some members of parliament – known as MEPs – and their staff. The payments reported, however, appeared relatively modest. One report said more than €45,000 ($81,000) was transferred to a lobbyist and this was used to pay €6,700 to a member of parliament and about €16,000 to aides. Transparency International EU director Nick Aiossa said the charges demonstrated the lack of action in the parliament to stop corruption. 'The allegations that have been reported upon certainly point to a potential complex corruption scheme involving MEPs, their staff, Huawei and other legal entities,' he told this masthead. In a setback for prosecutors, Italian MEP Giusi Princi went public this month about claims by prosecutors that she attended a dinner with Huawei in Brussels in June last year. She was not an MEP at that time and was in her home region of Calabria on the date of the dinner, attending an event with her daughter. Loading 'To this day I cannot understand how they could have made such a blatant mistake,' Princi told Agence France-Presse. That mistake raised questions about whether Belgian prosecutors had their facts right – or whether the case should be investigated instead by stronger EU authorities. Huawei has insisted in statements over several months that it had a 'zero-tolerance policy toward corruption or other wrongdoing' and was complying with the law. Several of the politicians who put their names to the 2021 letter have told the media they received no payments from the company. Xi Jinping will host von der Leyen in Beijing on Thursday to mark 50 years of diplomatic recognition – the EU's predecessor recognised mainland China in 1975, 2½ years after Australia did the same – but against the backdrop of rising tensions. Von der Leyen has warned against China using its vast production capacity to flood markets and ruin competitors, and says it denies fair access to its market for EU companies. 'China is running the largest trade surplus in the history of humankind. Its trade surplus with our Union has surpassed €300 billion last year. And this is while it is getting harder and harder for European companies to do business in China,' she told legislators on July 9. The major dispute between the two sides, however, is Ukraine, because of China's economic support for Russia and the supply of Chinese technologies that find their way into Russian weapons. 'China's unyielding support for Russia is creating heightened instability and insecurity here in Europe,' von der Leyen said. 'We can say that China is de facto enabling Russia's war economy. We cannot accept this.' The lobbying concerns in Brussels are not only about Chinese influence but the broader question of ethics in parliament after an earlier uproar over payments from Qatar. Dubbed Qatargate and seen as the biggest scandal of its kind in decades, the affair began with allegations the Gulf state paid members of parliament to curry favour in Brussels. While some MEPs have been charged, the case has not been decided in court. Corporate Europe Observatory, a non-profit campaign group, has named Huawei as one of the top tech lobbyists in Brussels, with a budget of more than €2 million and 11 full-time lobbyists, according to its own declarations. 'We already have a transparency register at the EU level that repressive regime lobbyists easily bypass because it is weak, voluntary, and poorly enforced,' it said, naming China, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. Aiossa, from Transparency International, said the European Union had made some progress on transparency, for instance by disclosing meetings between lobbyists and politicians, but was failing on ethics. Loading 'The Huawei case is crucially important because it demonstrates that the European Parliament needs to have much stronger and robust integrity and anti-corruption frameworks in place to prevent these scandals,' he said. 'There was a moment in the wake of Qatargate when they could have been brave and brought forward ambitious reforms. They didn't do it, which has led to the current Huawei scandal.'
The Advertiser
a day ago
- The Advertiser
Syrian forces struggle to enforce Druze region truce
Sectarian clashes have escalated in Syria's predominantly Druze region of Sweida, with machine gun fire and mortar shelling ringing out after days of bloodshed as the Islamist-led government struggles to implement a ceasefire. Reuters reporters heard gunfire from inside the city of Sweida and saw shells land in nearby villages. There were no immediate, confirmed reports of casualties. The government had said security forces were deploying in the southern region to try to keep peace, and urged all parties to stop fighting after nearly a week of factional bloodshed in which hundreds have been killed. Interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa said "Arab and American" mediation had helped restore calm, before the clashes escalated. He criticised Israel for air strikes during the week. The fighting is the latest challenge to the control of Sharaa's jihadist-dominated government, which took over after rebels toppled autocratic president Bashar al-Assad in December. It started last week as clashes between the Druze - a religious minority native to southern Syria, the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights and parts of Lebanon and Jordan - and Syrian Bedouin tribes. Government forces then arrived to try to quell tensions, clashing with Druze gunmen and attacking the Druze community. Saturday's violence once again pitted Druze against Bedouin, witnesses said. The fighting has drawn in neighbouring Israel, which carried out air strikes in southern Syria and on the Defence Ministry in Damascus this week while government forces were fighting with the Druze. Israel says it is protecting the Druze, who also form a significant minority in Israel. But Israel and the United States differ over Syria. The US supports a centralised Syria under Sharaa's government, which has pledged to rule for all citizens, while Israel says the government is dominated by jihadists and a danger to minorities. In March, Syria's military was involved in mass killings of members of the Alawite minority to which much of Assad's elite belonged. In a statement on Saturday, the Syrian presidency announced an immediate ceasefire and urged an immediate end to hostilities. The interior ministry said internal forces had begun deploying. Sharaa said Syria would not be a "testing ground for partition, secession or sectarian incitement". "The Israeli intervention pushed the country into a dangerous phase that threatened its stability," he said in a televised speech. Sharaa appeared to blame Druze gunmen for the latest clashes, accusing them of revenge attacks against Bedouins. Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar accused Sharaa of siding with the perpetrators. "In al-Shara's Syria, it is very dangerous to be a member of a minority - Kurd, Druze, Alawite, or Christian," he posted on X. US envoy Tom Barrack announced on Friday that Syria and Israel had agreed to a ceasefire. Barrack, who is both US ambassador to Turkey and Syria envoy for the US, urged Druze, Bedouins and Sunnis, together with other minorities, to "build a new and united Syrian identity". Israel has attacked Syrian military facilities in the seven months since Assad fell and says it wants areas of southern Syria near its border to remain demilitarised. On Friday, an Israeli official said Israel had agreed to allow Syrian forces limited access to Sweida for two days. Mansour Namour, a resident of a village near Sweida city, said mortar shells were still landing near his home on Saturday afternoon, and that at least 22 people had been wounded. A doctor in Sweida said a local hospital was full of bodies and wounded people from days of violence. "All the injuries are from bombs, some people with their chests wounded. There are also injuries to limbs from shrapnel," said Omar Obeid, director of the hospital. Sectarian clashes have escalated in Syria's predominantly Druze region of Sweida, with machine gun fire and mortar shelling ringing out after days of bloodshed as the Islamist-led government struggles to implement a ceasefire. Reuters reporters heard gunfire from inside the city of Sweida and saw shells land in nearby villages. There were no immediate, confirmed reports of casualties. The government had said security forces were deploying in the southern region to try to keep peace, and urged all parties to stop fighting after nearly a week of factional bloodshed in which hundreds have been killed. Interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa said "Arab and American" mediation had helped restore calm, before the clashes escalated. He criticised Israel for air strikes during the week. The fighting is the latest challenge to the control of Sharaa's jihadist-dominated government, which took over after rebels toppled autocratic president Bashar al-Assad in December. It started last week as clashes between the Druze - a religious minority native to southern Syria, the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights and parts of Lebanon and Jordan - and Syrian Bedouin tribes. Government forces then arrived to try to quell tensions, clashing with Druze gunmen and attacking the Druze community. Saturday's violence once again pitted Druze against Bedouin, witnesses said. The fighting has drawn in neighbouring Israel, which carried out air strikes in southern Syria and on the Defence Ministry in Damascus this week while government forces were fighting with the Druze. Israel says it is protecting the Druze, who also form a significant minority in Israel. But Israel and the United States differ over Syria. The US supports a centralised Syria under Sharaa's government, which has pledged to rule for all citizens, while Israel says the government is dominated by jihadists and a danger to minorities. In March, Syria's military was involved in mass killings of members of the Alawite minority to which much of Assad's elite belonged. In a statement on Saturday, the Syrian presidency announced an immediate ceasefire and urged an immediate end to hostilities. The interior ministry said internal forces had begun deploying. Sharaa said Syria would not be a "testing ground for partition, secession or sectarian incitement". "The Israeli intervention pushed the country into a dangerous phase that threatened its stability," he said in a televised speech. Sharaa appeared to blame Druze gunmen for the latest clashes, accusing them of revenge attacks against Bedouins. Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar accused Sharaa of siding with the perpetrators. "In al-Shara's Syria, it is very dangerous to be a member of a minority - Kurd, Druze, Alawite, or Christian," he posted on X. US envoy Tom Barrack announced on Friday that Syria and Israel had agreed to a ceasefire. Barrack, who is both US ambassador to Turkey and Syria envoy for the US, urged Druze, Bedouins and Sunnis, together with other minorities, to "build a new and united Syrian identity". Israel has attacked Syrian military facilities in the seven months since Assad fell and says it wants areas of southern Syria near its border to remain demilitarised. On Friday, an Israeli official said Israel had agreed to allow Syrian forces limited access to Sweida for two days. Mansour Namour, a resident of a village near Sweida city, said mortar shells were still landing near his home on Saturday afternoon, and that at least 22 people had been wounded. A doctor in Sweida said a local hospital was full of bodies and wounded people from days of violence. "All the injuries are from bombs, some people with their chests wounded. There are also injuries to limbs from shrapnel," said Omar Obeid, director of the hospital. Sectarian clashes have escalated in Syria's predominantly Druze region of Sweida, with machine gun fire and mortar shelling ringing out after days of bloodshed as the Islamist-led government struggles to implement a ceasefire. Reuters reporters heard gunfire from inside the city of Sweida and saw shells land in nearby villages. There were no immediate, confirmed reports of casualties. The government had said security forces were deploying in the southern region to try to keep peace, and urged all parties to stop fighting after nearly a week of factional bloodshed in which hundreds have been killed. Interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa said "Arab and American" mediation had helped restore calm, before the clashes escalated. He criticised Israel for air strikes during the week. The fighting is the latest challenge to the control of Sharaa's jihadist-dominated government, which took over after rebels toppled autocratic president Bashar al-Assad in December. It started last week as clashes between the Druze - a religious minority native to southern Syria, the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights and parts of Lebanon and Jordan - and Syrian Bedouin tribes. Government forces then arrived to try to quell tensions, clashing with Druze gunmen and attacking the Druze community. Saturday's violence once again pitted Druze against Bedouin, witnesses said. The fighting has drawn in neighbouring Israel, which carried out air strikes in southern Syria and on the Defence Ministry in Damascus this week while government forces were fighting with the Druze. Israel says it is protecting the Druze, who also form a significant minority in Israel. But Israel and the United States differ over Syria. The US supports a centralised Syria under Sharaa's government, which has pledged to rule for all citizens, while Israel says the government is dominated by jihadists and a danger to minorities. In March, Syria's military was involved in mass killings of members of the Alawite minority to which much of Assad's elite belonged. In a statement on Saturday, the Syrian presidency announced an immediate ceasefire and urged an immediate end to hostilities. The interior ministry said internal forces had begun deploying. Sharaa said Syria would not be a "testing ground for partition, secession or sectarian incitement". "The Israeli intervention pushed the country into a dangerous phase that threatened its stability," he said in a televised speech. Sharaa appeared to blame Druze gunmen for the latest clashes, accusing them of revenge attacks against Bedouins. Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar accused Sharaa of siding with the perpetrators. "In al-Shara's Syria, it is very dangerous to be a member of a minority - Kurd, Druze, Alawite, or Christian," he posted on X. US envoy Tom Barrack announced on Friday that Syria and Israel had agreed to a ceasefire. Barrack, who is both US ambassador to Turkey and Syria envoy for the US, urged Druze, Bedouins and Sunnis, together with other minorities, to "build a new and united Syrian identity". Israel has attacked Syrian military facilities in the seven months since Assad fell and says it wants areas of southern Syria near its border to remain demilitarised. On Friday, an Israeli official said Israel had agreed to allow Syrian forces limited access to Sweida for two days. Mansour Namour, a resident of a village near Sweida city, said mortar shells were still landing near his home on Saturday afternoon, and that at least 22 people had been wounded. A doctor in Sweida said a local hospital was full of bodies and wounded people from days of violence. "All the injuries are from bombs, some people with their chests wounded. There are also injuries to limbs from shrapnel," said Omar Obeid, director of the hospital. Sectarian clashes have escalated in Syria's predominantly Druze region of Sweida, with machine gun fire and mortar shelling ringing out after days of bloodshed as the Islamist-led government struggles to implement a ceasefire. Reuters reporters heard gunfire from inside the city of Sweida and saw shells land in nearby villages. There were no immediate, confirmed reports of casualties. The government had said security forces were deploying in the southern region to try to keep peace, and urged all parties to stop fighting after nearly a week of factional bloodshed in which hundreds have been killed. Interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa said "Arab and American" mediation had helped restore calm, before the clashes escalated. He criticised Israel for air strikes during the week. The fighting is the latest challenge to the control of Sharaa's jihadist-dominated government, which took over after rebels toppled autocratic president Bashar al-Assad in December. It started last week as clashes between the Druze - a religious minority native to southern Syria, the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights and parts of Lebanon and Jordan - and Syrian Bedouin tribes. Government forces then arrived to try to quell tensions, clashing with Druze gunmen and attacking the Druze community. Saturday's violence once again pitted Druze against Bedouin, witnesses said. The fighting has drawn in neighbouring Israel, which carried out air strikes in southern Syria and on the Defence Ministry in Damascus this week while government forces were fighting with the Druze. Israel says it is protecting the Druze, who also form a significant minority in Israel. But Israel and the United States differ over Syria. The US supports a centralised Syria under Sharaa's government, which has pledged to rule for all citizens, while Israel says the government is dominated by jihadists and a danger to minorities. In March, Syria's military was involved in mass killings of members of the Alawite minority to which much of Assad's elite belonged. In a statement on Saturday, the Syrian presidency announced an immediate ceasefire and urged an immediate end to hostilities. The interior ministry said internal forces had begun deploying. Sharaa said Syria would not be a "testing ground for partition, secession or sectarian incitement". "The Israeli intervention pushed the country into a dangerous phase that threatened its stability," he said in a televised speech. Sharaa appeared to blame Druze gunmen for the latest clashes, accusing them of revenge attacks against Bedouins. Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar accused Sharaa of siding with the perpetrators. "In al-Shara's Syria, it is very dangerous to be a member of a minority - Kurd, Druze, Alawite, or Christian," he posted on X. US envoy Tom Barrack announced on Friday that Syria and Israel had agreed to a ceasefire. Barrack, who is both US ambassador to Turkey and Syria envoy for the US, urged Druze, Bedouins and Sunnis, together with other minorities, to "build a new and united Syrian identity". Israel has attacked Syrian military facilities in the seven months since Assad fell and says it wants areas of southern Syria near its border to remain demilitarised. On Friday, an Israeli official said Israel had agreed to allow Syrian forces limited access to Sweida for two days. Mansour Namour, a resident of a village near Sweida city, said mortar shells were still landing near his home on Saturday afternoon, and that at least 22 people had been wounded. A doctor in Sweida said a local hospital was full of bodies and wounded people from days of violence. "All the injuries are from bombs, some people with their chests wounded. There are also injuries to limbs from shrapnel," said Omar Obeid, director of the hospital.
