| Publisher | Cardiff University |
|---|---|
| Series Title | ESO In Focus |
| Series Details | July 2017 |
| Publication Date | 24/07/2017 |
| Content Type | News |
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Background and further information: First media reports emerged as it was made public that the former director-general of Sweden's Transport Agency (Transportstyrelsen) Maria Ågren - fired in January 2017 - had been fined after a probe found her guily of being 'careless with secret information'. It later became known that the agency had outsourced IT maintenance to IBM in 2015, exposing secret data to foreign workers in the Czech Republic and Serbia. Sweden's security service Säpo highlighted that foreign nationals without proper security clearance had had access to data about Swedish driving licences and transport infrastructure. Sweden's Prime Minister Stefan Löfven stated the leak had been 'a disaster' and pointed out that he had not been informed by his own ministers when they became aware of the issue in 2016. Opposition parties - holding a majority in parliament - called for a no confidence vote targeting three ministers (Anna Johansson, Anders Ygeman and Peter Hultqvist) with responsibility for departments which had failed to detect the flaws of the outsourcing contract. Amid calls for his own resignation, Mr Löfven rejected any snap election but accepted the resignation of two of those ministers. Opposition leaders later insisted that the third member of the cabinet should also resign to avoid the vote in parliament. Analysts pointed out that this scandal would further undermine the government's already fragile authority and increased the likelihood of a snap election. |
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| Countries / Regions | Sweden |
