He exclaimed that: “I don’t know how we’re supposed to be a party which only has old men and where women don’t come to the top! Where is that?”
In an interview with public radio 100,7 on Wednesday 24 January, Asselborn was questioned about the current lack of EU unity on the two-state solution in Israel/Palestine, the Turkish invasion in Syria and about Luxembourg’s possibilities to influence world conflicts. But he also had to face questions about internal party squabbles and his own motivation to continue as foreign affairs minister.
A bit tired
Asselborn seemed defeatist when asked about whether he was fed up with the current disunity with the EU on many subjects.
He said:
“being fatalistic would be the worst thing one could do. But I agree, sometimes I have doubts—doubts after the Brexit vote, after the US elections and their consequences, after the situation in the Middle East, especially Iran and Saudi Arabia, which for me is the biggest negative dynamic in the future. The EU does not stand together anymore that closely, it does not stand together on capital questions as it did ten years ago—and it gets under my skin. It can get slightly depressing; not me, but with the whole situation. It would be better if we stood together in the EU and if we didn’t trample our basic common values, we would achieve more.”
He added:
“The Luxembourg foreign affairs minister, with all due respect to our country, can only help at the European level to see that such developments don’t go in the wrong direction. That must be said in all humility. EU member states don’t have a button to push which avoids all this.”
Asselborn will be 70 years old next year, and has served for 14 years as foreign affairs minister. He has already said he would stand again in the upcoming parliamentary elections. He said pensively that “he has seen a lot in this job”, but added that “a lot remains to be done.”
En marche is buried
Etienne Schneider, who is tipped to become the LSAP’s party leader, had recently publicly mused about fusing the LSAP, DP and Greens as a pendant to the CSV, similar to Emmanuel Macron’s En Marche movement. Asselborn said this idea “is buried”, it would not be a forward movement, but a backwards move. “Our party has many irks, but the good thing is that the party votes on personnel questions.” However, he defended Schneider’s leadership position, saying “he is the best man to defend our track record, which is good. I think we can do well if we’re enthusiastic and don’t permanently produce a yes-but atmosphere. (…) The decision at the party congress won’t be unanimous, evidently, but I stand by what I said.”
Future party leadership
Asselborn became angry when the recent open letter to the LSAP leadership was brought up. He rejected the claims that the party did not encourage young people and women, or put them in leadership positions and that “it would be good if letters were circulated internally only”.
He added: “You ask me questions which concern human lives, you ask me difficult questions and then you come with stories about letters within the LSAP!” He added that if these internal squabbles continued, the LSAP would “butcher itself” and it “doesn’t need any of that,” saying “I don’t know what we have done in the last 4 years to deserve this!”