Recruiting new police officers is a priority, François Bausch, the new defence and public safety minister (Green party), said in a 12 December 2018 interview Matic Zorman

Recruiting new police officers is a priority, François Bausch, the new defence and public safety minister (Green party), said in a 12 December 2018 interview Matic Zorman

The Green party defence, internal security and transport minister made the comments in an interview with Paperjam magazine published on Wednesday.

The country currently faces challenges recruiting police officers, and Bausch was asked if non-Luxembourgers could help fill the shortage. Bausch stated:

“Why not discuss it, knowing that this does not necessarily mean that we are going to do it... But why not think about an option for European Union citizens who have, for example, met a residence requirement of at least five years, and who have knowledge of Luxembourgish? Because I can’t imagine a police officer on the ground who does not speak the national language. Some jobs in Luxembourg require mastery of Luxembourgish, no compromise possible [on that point], otherwise it cannot work.”

Bausch told Paperjam that he planned to meet with trade union leaders and with officers in the field in January, “to get an idea of the reality for myself, because I want to have a complete picture of the problems.” He also said that: “Changes must include how the profession is presented to the general public,” with “more modern campaigns” potentially helping drive recruitment.

Donald Trump has called on Nato members to fulfil the alliance goal of spending 2% of GDP on defence. Luxembourg remains far from that target. Bausch commented in the Paperjam interview:

“We have always said that Luxembourg will not go to 2%, because this figure must be viewed in the proportionality of the size of the countries. For Luxembourg, it makes no sense to reach this figure. On the other hand, we have promised that we will increase the level of defence spending in small increments until 2025, but we will still be very far from the 2% [objective].”