"Merde alors!" - Luxembourg's Jean Asselborn out of office
He is one of the best-known Luxembourgers abroad. And at home in the Grand Duchy, an entire generation cannot remember that there has ever been another foreign minister. Jean Asselborn (74), his country's Foreign Minister for more than 19 years, is leaving office.
There is no more room for the Social Democrat in the new Christian Liberal government of Prime Minister Luc Frieden. "I knew that after almost 20 years it would have to come to an end," he says. "I believe I will master this."
As of today, Luxembourg has a new Foreign Minister: Liberal Xavier Bettel, previously Prime Minister in Luxembourg for ten years, has taken over the baton from Asselborn.
Back to the start
When Asselborn became Foreign Minister in 2004, his counterparts were still Condoleezza Rice (USA) and Joschka Fischer (Germany). Since then, his staff have calculated that he has seen 241 foreign ministers from other countries come and go.
"I've been to New York 48 times and to Berlin 80 times," he says. Eight weeks ago, he had his photo taken with seven colleagues - only four of whom are now still in office: "Things are moving so fast." He had been the EU's longest-serving foreign minister since 2010.
Why he is quitting
In October, he was re-elected to Parliament, of which he had already been a member for 20 years - but he did not accept the mandate. Asselborn was also responsible for migration. The fact that EU countries did not want to take in Afghan refugees after the fall of Kabul in August 2021 was "one of my biggest disappointments": "That shocked me."
And now there is again "this chaos" when it comes to migration: "That really got to me." He felt: "You can't overdo it, otherwise the candle will go out." So he gave up his mandate.
Respected politician
Asselborn, who left school early, worked for a tire company and later completed a second degree in law in Nancy (France), is appreciated - and feared - as a man of clear words. Especially when something gets to his heart:
When Italy's then Minister of the Interior Matteo Salvini said that he did not want to take in any refugees, Asselborn gave him a lecture on the former Italian guest workers living in Luxembourg, which he concluded with the words "Merde alors!" - which can also be kindly translated as "Bloody hell".
Salvini's attempt to discredit Asselborn with a video of the incident backfired: "Merde alors" was proudly marketed in Luxembourg on T-shirts and coffee cups.
Asselborn has always been unbending when it comes to human rights issues. It was a weakness of the EU that Hungary and Poland had caused "major problems in the rule of law". "Russia shows where a country drifts when the rule of law no longer functions. We must not give an inch."
Foreign Minister with self-criticism
The Russian attack on Ukraine on February 24, 2022 and the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7 are two dates "where I am probably not the only foreign minister to say: What did we do wrong for such developments to happen?" Now we have to try to make the best of the situation. Failures? The EU should have worked more vigorously for the two-state solution in the Middle East, "then there would be no Hamas in this form".
He would not say that the EU is weak. "We see about eight or ten countries knocking on our door to become members. So it can't be a sign that we are weak," he says. And the fact that the EU still exists "is a positive thing". After all, it has already survived many crises: From the constitutional crisis to the euro crisis to Brexit.
In future, Asselborn will have more time for his racing bike, which he likes to ride more than 400 kilometers a week to stay fit. But he also already has appointments for his time as an off-duty minister. And: "I have to make my own phone calls, drive myself and organize everything myself." The thing he will miss least is "the inside of airplanes: I spent months of my life there".
- Following his resignation, the European Union (EU) will need to find a replacement for Jean Asselborn, who served as Luxembourg's Foreign Minister for over 19 years and was the EU's longest-serving foreign minister since 2010.
- During his tenure, Asselbornt frequently criticized the EU's response to human rights issues, such as the lack of support for Afghan refugees and the rule of law issues in Hungary and Poland, which he believed needed to be addressed.
Source: www.dpa.com
