The national security adviser Henrik Landerholm has left his post. The reason is that he is being investigated for a crime due to negligence with confidential documents.
The opposition is critical of Landerholm's actions, but also of how he was handpicked by Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson (The Moderate Party) and how he was then allowed to build up a large, new department at the Government Offices, where the Prime Minister's office is located.
Landerholm himself proposed that the new unit should have around 75 positions – about 45 already existed at the Government Offices' crisis management, the rest needed to be recruited internally and externally to work with, for example, intelligence and strategic analysis.
I don't know if anyone, except the Prime Minister, has any political insight into this unit at the Government Offices, says Peter Hultqvist.
As the construction is, I cannot say anything about what they do or what the result of their work is, if Sweden has better analyses of the security situation now or better intelligence than we had previously.
Large Colossus
Several defense politicians are on the same track.
Mikael Larsson (C) emphasizes that it is important for the Defense Committee to receive all information that can be shared.
It must, of course, not be the case that there is an office at the Government Offices that nobody knows what they do, he says.
Emma Berginger (Green Party) does not think that the committee has received sufficient information.
We do not have full insight into how this office functions. It has become a very large colossus, she says.
I am worried that it means duplication of work compared to the Ministry for Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Defense, which actually have responsibility for these issues.
Hanna Gunnarsson (V) has no problem with the idea of a national security adviser. But thinks that the model is strange.
If the questions are raised and placed under the Prime Minister, it becomes harder for us in the Riksdag to get to these questions, she says.
Must be Investigated
Hultqvist thinks it's time for a thorough review of the security adviser's department. Even if it can be difficult, since so much is confidential.
The security adviser is a non-political position, but many perceive Landerholm as political. He is a childhood friend of Kristersson and brother of the Moderate Party's party secretary.
Now that he is to be replaced, S and V believe that Kristersson must make up his mind.
If you want to have it as a non-political position, it must be advertised. But if it's going to be politically appointed, you can just pick someone, says Hanna Gunnarsson.
