The day of German unity was celebrated this year in Mainz. Ambassador Dr Heinrich Kreft stressed the cooperation between Germany and the grand duchy by inviting several personalities from the Greater Region. DP minister for the Greater Region Corinne Cahen was present and talked about the numerous areas of cooperation in education, cultures, work training and nature projects.
Bilateral relations
The ambassador started his speech in Luxembourgish, and noted the excellent relations between the two countries. He said that:
“the bilateral relationships are very close, like never before.”
Indeed, many German ministers and officials have visited Luxembourg over the past year, including chancellor Angela Merkel, foreign affairs minister Sigmar Gabriel and president of the federal republic Frank-Walter Steinmeier.
The speech was followed by the choirs of European Schools 1 and 2 and the European court of auditors, who sang the German and Luxembourg national anthems, followed by “Ode to Joy”.
Marc Angel, head of the parliamentary committee on foreign affairs, confirmed that:
“German-Luxembourg relations are excellent. Germany is a neighbouring country, it’s a co-founding member of the EU. We border the Saarland, Rhineland-Palatinate, with whom we have good relations. We have good relations with Berlin and are happy that many Germans come to work in Luxembourg. We Luxembourgers like to go to Germany as well, and not just to Trier. Relations are good at a personal level, but also on a political level, and that is important.”
When asked about whether the potential coalition between CDU/CSU, FDP and Greens would change the bilateral relations and German European policy, Angel said that:
“I don’t think German foreign policy will change significantly. Germany has already had a Green foreign affairs minister before with Joschka Fischer. I am convinced that there will be no big changes in German foreign policy. It will certainly not be easy for Ms Merkel, because the 4 parties need to agree. Usually, they don’t need to do a detour via the Bundesländer, but this time they do need to go by Bavaria. I am worried that this may lead to many disputes, which people don’t like.”
On whether there would be a change in policies relating to financial services if Christian Lindner (FDP) would become finance minister, Angel urged people to wait:
“The Germans know that Luxembourg is a serious financial centre, and that it’s better for them to work with a professional financial centre. But let’s wait and see what happens. Lindner is not yet finance minister. He will have enough to do in Germany, to make people’s lives better there.”