Wednesday, December 4, 2013

...In With the New *

Well, some of them are not that new but anyway... After biding farewell to now former Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker and all those other ministers who won't occupy posts in the new government this morning (more on it here), it was time for the Grand Duke to swear in the new government this afternoon.
Photos: René Scho / RTL.lu
Before proceeding to action, Grand Duke Henri quickly gave the Civil and Military Order of Merit of Adolph of Nassau to those ministers who just finished their first term in office but will still be part of the new government. Afterwards it was time for the swearing-in that each new members of the government had to do individually. Of course the Grand Duke also signed all of the letters of appointment as members of goverment are appointed via Arrêtés grand-ducal. To give you a quick overview of who you might see accompanying the members of the Grand Ducal Family in the coming years, the new minister are:
  • Xavier Bettel (DP), Prime Minister and Minister for Media, Communication and Cultural Affairs
  • Etienne Schneider (LSAP), Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for the Economy, Foreign Trade, SMEs, Tourism and Public Safety
  • Claude Meisch (DP), Minister for School and Training, Higher Education, Children and Youth
  • Félix Braz (Déi Gréng), Minister of Justice
  • François Bausch (Déi Gréng), Minister for Sustainability, Transportation, Public Works and Infrastructure
  • Lydia Mutsch (LSAP), Minister for Health and Equal Opportunities
  • Maggy Nagel (DP), Minister of Culture and Housing
  • Pierre Gramegna, Minister of Finance and Budget
  • Romain Schneider (LSAP), Minister for Sport, Development Aid and Social Security
  • Carole Dieschbourg (Déi Gréng), Minister for the Environment, Water and Regional Development Planning 
  • Nicolas Schmit (LSAP), Minister of Labour, Employment and Solidarity Economy  
  • Corinne Cahen (DP), Minister for Family and the Greater Region
  • Jean Asselborn (LSAP), Foreign Minister and Minister of Immigration and Asylum
  • Dan Kersch (LSAP), Minister of the Interior and the Civil Service
  • Fernand Etgen (DP), Minister for Agriculture, Viticulture and Rural Development, Relations with Parliament and Consumer Protection
After the swearing-in ceremony, Grand Duke Henri posed for a group picture with all the new ministers and afterwards he and Grand Duchess Maria-Teresa hosted a reception in honour of the new government. Visuals are located at Wort in German, Wort in French, L'essentiel, Tageblatt, AFP and RTL and videos can be found at RTL and Wort.

Also in totally unrelated news, Grand Duchess Maria-Teresa gave a joined interview with Maggy Barankitse, a Burundian humanitarian, in which the two ladies talked about the situation of children in Burundi and how they are trying to help. Parts of the interview which was published in German are available at Wort while the whole thing was printed in today's paper.

Sources: RTL, Wort

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