Welfring was the director of the environment administration and has a scientific background. She was officially named Green party environment minister by Grand Duke Henri on 2 May 2022. Photo: Guy Wolff/Maison Moderne

Welfring was the director of the environment administration and has a scientific background. She was officially named Green party environment minister by Grand Duke Henri on 2 May 2022. Photo: Guy Wolff/Maison Moderne

On 2 May, Joëlle Welfing was sworn in as a cabinet minister by Luxembourg’s Grand Duke Henri in a ceremony at the royal palace in Luxembourg City.

Welfring now officially takes over the position of environment and sustainable development minister from Carole Dieschbourg. The latter had resigned from the position at the end of April due as she is set to be

Welfing joined the déi Gréng party as a new member and--like current finance minister Yuriko Backes--has no prior experience in politics. Regardless of this, the Green party leadership presented her as a candidate.

Majority of party welcomes new member

On 30 April, déi Gréng came together to vote on her nomination. 174 out of 175 party members voted in favour of her candidacy. At the same congress, a tribute was paid to Dieschbourg. Even if her decision to step aside was welcomed, as it “allows justice to move forward with the investigation”.

In his speech during the meeting, the deputy prime minister, , showed a certain amount of exasperation with what the former minister has experienced, particularly on the part of the opposition. “They want to destroy a person and go after Carole. Since we won the 2018 election, we saved the government, we followed our ideals without compromise and since they are all jealous of us, they are venting their frustration on Carole,” he stated. The minister remains confident in the party’s future: “Within the party we remain united behind the government team and we will celebrate another electoral success in 2023.”

Prime minister Xavier Bettel was also present at the ceremony on Monday morning.