REGION B – EUROPE

NEW WORLD ORDER

(Luxembourg)

Xavier Bettel

(Prime Minister, 2013+)

The Official Story

XAVIER BETTEL
(Prime Minister of Luxembourg, 2013+)

Xavier Bettel (born 3 March 1973) is a Luxembourger lawyer and politician serving as Prime Minister of Luxembourg since 2013. He was previously a member of the Chamber of Deputies (1999–2013) and Mayor of Luxembourg City (2011–2013).

Bettel is a member of the Democratic Party (DP). Following the 2013 general election, he took office as Prime Minister and succeeded Jean-Claude Juncker of the Christian Social People’s Party (CSV). Bettel became the first openly gay prime minister in the world to be reelected for a second term in 2018, when his mandate was renewed.

Prime Minister

First term

In 2013, Bettel was elected leader of the Democratic Party. In the 2013 general election, he led the party to a third-ranked position in parliamentary seats. On 25 October, Bettel was designated by Grand Duke Henri as the formateur for the next government. He assumed his post as Luxembourg’s Prime Minister on 4 December 2013. In the government’s coalition of the Democratic Party (DP), Luxembourg Socialist Workers’ Party (LSAP) and The Greens, he led the cabinet with co-Deputy Prime Ministers Etienne Schneider and Félix Braz. In his first term, he also held the functions of Minister of State, Minister for Communications and the Media, Minister for Culture and Minister for Religious Affairs.

Second term

Following the 2018 election, he became the first openly gay prime minister in the world to be reelected for a second term. He began his second term when his government was formed on 5 December 2018, which he currently leads with co-Deputy Prime Ministers François Bausch and Dan Kersch. The government is a continuation between the Democratic Party, the Luxembourg Socialist Workers’ Party and The Greens from the Bettel I government, with minor changes.

On 16 September 2019, following a short bilateral meeting on the status of Brexit negotiations, Bettel continued a press conference without British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, after Johnson abruptly pulled out due to an anti-Brexit protest held by British citizens living in Luxembourg. Bettel gestured towards Johnson’s empty podium and confirmed that the UK Government had not tabled any concrete proposals for amendments to the UK’s Withdrawal Agreement, particularly the “Irish backstop” that Johnson wished to replace. This being despite the public pronouncements of Prime Minister Johnson and the UK’s departure date from the EU fast approaching. Pro-Brexit UK media reported the matter as an ambush, whilst other UK and international media outlets largely saw the incident, as well as the reaction of pro-Brexit UK media outlets to it, as confirming the increasing hypersensitivity of pro-Brexit pundits and politicians to criticism.

On 29 February 2020, all of Luxembourg’s public transport became free of charge as a result of the Bettel II government coalition agreement.

Source: Wikipedia