Carl Henrik Jacob Landerholm (born 10 August 1963) is a Swedish politician who served as the first National Security Advisor to the Government of Sweden from 2022 until his resignation in 2025.[1] He is a member of the Moderate Party and has previously served as a Member of the Riksdag. Between 1998 and 2002 he was Chairman of the Defense Committee.[2]
Background
Henrik Landerholm is the only son of Staffan Landerholm and Olena Tingdahl. He has 2 sisters, former Minister of Defense Karin Enström and Uppsala Municipal Politician Louise Landerholm Bill, who is married to the former Governor of Gävleborg County Per Bill. He has three adult children.
Landerholm and Ulf Kristersson have been friends since their childhood.[3]
Career
Between 1991 and 2002 he served as a Member of the Riksdag. During this time he held a number of roles. For example, he was a Member of the Advisory Council on Foreign Affairs and the War Delegation as well as Chairman of the Defense Committee.
In 2002 he became Vice-Chancellor of the Swedish Defence University, a post he held until 2008. He had previously served in the Swedish Armed Forces and currently holds the rank of Lieutenant Colonel in the army reserve.
During the 2010s Landerholm served in multiple ambassadorial positions, first as Senior Civilian Representative in Masar-e Sharif in Afghanistan from 2011 until 2013, then as Swedens Ambassador to Latvia between 2014 and 2017 and then as its Ambassador to the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Kuwait from 2017 until 2021. In 2022 he was made the inaugural Director General of the Psychological Defence Agency.
Landerholm was appointed as the first National Security Advisor to the Government of Sweden by Ulf Kristersson in November 2022 and resigned his post as Director General. In this role he advices the National Security Council and the Prime Minister in matters of foreign and security policy, as well as matters of national security.[4]
In December 2024 a scandal emerged that Landerholm had accidentally left a state document in a conference center locker. Later it however became public that it was 4 classified documents that had been left at the conference center. It was reported that the Government Offices considered the situation to be very serious. Landerholm admitted that it was bad that the incident was able to occur.[5][6]
After the scandal several key opposition figures, most prominently former Minister of Defence and chairman of the Defence Committee Peter Hultqvist, called for Landerholms resignation.[7] Landerholm tendered his resignation on 27 January 2025 after the Swedish Security Service launched formal investigations into the classified documents case.[8][9]
Dates of rank
- 1986 – Second lieutenant
- 1988 – Lieutenant
- 1994 – Captain
- 2008 – Lieutenant colonel
References
- ^ Regeringskansliet, Regeringen och (10 November 2022). "Regeringen utser Henrik Landerholm till nationell säkerhetsrådgivare". Regeringskansliet.
- ^ "Henrik Landerholm (M)". www.riksdagen.se.
- ^ "Experter: Kristerssons rekrytering kan vara vänskapskorruption". DN.se. 9 December 2022.
- ^ Regeringskansliet, Regeringen och (15 September 2023). "CV Henrik Landerholm". Regeringskansliet.
- ^ "Säkerhetsrådgivare Henrik Landerholm glömde hemliga dokument". SVT. 9 January 2025.
- ^ "Regeringens nationella säkerhetsrådgivare i blåsvädret". Expressen. 9 January 2025.
- ^ "S kräver Landerholms avgång: Det borde vara game over nu". TV4. 27 January 2025.
- ^ "Säpo granskar säkerhetsrådgivarens slarv". Dagens Nyheter. 27 January 2025.
- ^ "Säkerhetsrådgivaren Landerholm hoppar av". Aftonbladet. 27 January 2025.