Security vetting is a fundamental process that ensures that people with access to sensitive information are trustworthy. By law, a new assessment is required for each position, regardless of previous assessments.
– The Prime Minister must immediately clarify whether laws and rules apply equally to everyone, or just to some. It is not good to be careless with these kinds of questions in the times we now live in, says former Defense Minister Peter Hultqvist (S) to SVT Nyheter.
Fagerberg came to the cabinet preparation in January 2023, in a period when Sweden was negotiating NATO membership and preparing military support for Ukraine. His previous workplace was the embassy in Washington, and his transfer was described as a “loan” from the State Department.
In an interview with DN, Henrik Landerholm says that Fagerberg had a previous security clearance within the Government Office and that a new assessment was not considered necessary.
– Together with the Government Offices’ security organization, an ongoing evaluation was made of the types of work tasks and any security values that existed. The ongoing assessment showed that there was no reason to do a renewed security assessment, says Landerholm to the newspaper.
Hultqvist: Clear system
But experts that DN spoke to state that you cannot use previous security checks for new positions.
– No, it’s crystal clear. There is no gray area in this regard, says Malen Wallén at the Norwegian Defense Academy to the newspaper.
Peter Hultqvist tells SVT that it is important that the rules are applied equally to everyone:
– The system is such that it is service for service. And we cannot have thoughts that some are above laws and regulations.
In a comment after the publication, the Government Offices security director Fredrik Agemark writes that assessments of which roles needed to be security tested were made on an ongoing basis and that the regulations were followed.
Björn Fagerberg is today security-tested in his leadership role in the National Security Council.