Luxembourg to Have New Prime Minister for the First Time in 10 Years

Luxembourg's Christian Social People's Party and the liberal Democratic Party announced on Thursday the formation of a two-party center-right coalition. This coalition is set to govern the country for the next five years under the leadership of Prime Minister Luke Frieden, as reported by Reuters.

In the October elections, Frieden's Christian Social People's Party secured 21 seats in the 60-member parliament, while the liberals led by Xavier Bettel, who had been heading the government for the past decade, obtained 14 seats.

"In comparison to previous years, we have a solid majority," commented Luke Frieden on the election results.

As a result, the ten-year reign of the left-center coalition in Luxembourg, primarily influenced by the disappointing performance of the Green Party, comes to an end.

Bettel announced on Wednesday evening that his liberal Democratic Party had reached an agreement with the center-right Christian Social People's Party to form the government. According to reports, Bettel will remain in the government as the Minister of Foreign Affairs. A decade ago, he assumed the position of prime minister, succeeding Jean-Claude Juncker, who was then the longest-serving democratically elected leader in Europe and later became the head of the European Commission.

Despite being the largest party in parliament, Frieden's Christian Social People's Party spent the last decade in opposition.

Luxembourg, known for its initiatives, is part of the IT coalition along with Ukraine and Estonia. The IT coalition, led by Estonia and Luxembourg within the UDCG framework, focuses on providing support to the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the areas of IT, communication, and cybersecurity. Luxembourg also participates in the F-16 coalition, training Ukrainian pilots to fly fighter jets of this type.

The goal of the IT coalition is to establish a secure and resilient IT infrastructure for the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine and its Armed Forces, enabling Ukraine to be more effective and efficient on the battlefield.

Additionally, Luxembourg recognized the Holodomor in Ukraine as genocide earlier this summer during an open session of the local parliament. During the session, lawmakers also adopted a second resolution expressing support for democratic forces in Belarus and condemning Belarus's involvement in the conflict in Ukraine.