Jean Asselborn (; born 27 April 1949) is a

Luxembourg Luxembourg ( ; lb, Lëtzebuerg ; french: link=no, Luxembourg; german: link=no, Luxemburg), officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, ; french: link=no, Grand-Duché de Luxembourg ; german: link=no, Großherzogtum Luxemburg is a small lan ...

ish politician who has served in the government of Luxembourg as Minister for Foreign Affairs since 2004. He also served as

Deputy Prime Minister A deputy prime minister or vice prime minister is, in some countries, a government minister who can take the position of acting prime minister when the prime minister is temporarily absent. The position is often likened to that of a vice president, ...

from 2004 to 2013, under Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker.CV at government website
.

Early life and career

Jean Asselborn was born on 27 April 1949 in Steinfort. Asselborn left school in 1967 at the age of 18, and began working in a

Uniroyal The company formerly known as the United States Rubber Company, now Uniroyal, is an American manufacturer of tires and other synthetic rubber-related products, as well as variety of items for military use, such as ammunition, explosives, chemical ...

plant that same year. It was during this time that he became actively involved in the trade union movement and was elected youth representative of the Federation of Luxembourg Workers (''Lëtzebuerger Aarbechterverband''), the precursor to the current OGBL trade union. In 1968, Asselborn began working for the

Luxembourg City Luxembourg ( lb, Lëtzebuerg; french: Luxembourg; german: Luxemburg), also known as Luxembourg City ( lb, Stad Lëtzebuerg, link=no or ; french: Ville de Luxembourg, link=no; german: Stadt Luxemburg, link=no or ), is the capital city of the Gr ...

administration as a civil servant, before returning to Steinfort in 1969, where he was also employed as a civil servant for the local administration. Asselborn resumed his secondary studies in 1976, obtaining a ''diplôme de fin d’études secondaires'' from the Athénée de Luxembourg that same year. Upon obtaining his final secondary school diploma, he became the administrator of the Intercommunal Hospital of Steinfort (''Hôpital intercommunal de Steinfort'') in 1976, a post he held until 2004. In October 1981, he was awarded a master's degree in private judicial law from Nancy 2 University. Asselborn became Mayor of Steinfort in 1982 and served in that position until 2004.

In government

Vladimir Putin in Luxembourg 24 May 2007-22

Following the legislative elections of 13 June 2004, Jean Asselborn joined the government as Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Immigration on 31 July 2004. Upon the return of the coalition government formed by the Christian Social Party (CSV) and the Luxembourg Socialist Workers' Party (LSAP) as a result of the legislative elections of 7 June 2009, Jean Asselborn retained the offices of Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Foreign Affairs on 23 July 2009. In October 2012, at his instigation, Luxembourg was for the first time elected to a non-permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council for 2013 and 2014. Following the legislative elections of 20 October 2013, Asselborn was appointed Minister of Foreign and European Affairs, Minister of Immigration and Asylum on 4 December 2013 in the coalition government formed by the Democratic Party (DP), the LSAP and the Green Party (“déi gréng”). FM Zarif and Luxembourgish foreign minister Asselborn 01

FM Zarif and Luxembourgish foreign minister Asselborn 01

As of July 2004, Asselborn represents the Luxembourg government at the Council of Ministers of the European Union in its Foreign Affairs and General Affairs configurations. Jean Asselborn is currently the longest-serving minister among the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the European Union.

Political views

In September 2010 Jean Asselborn declined a request of the

Alternative Democratic Reform Party The Alternative Democratic Reform Party (ADR; lb, Alternativ Demokratesch Reformpartei, french: Parti réformiste d'alternative démocratique, german: Alternative Demokratische Reformpartei) is a conservative and mildly populist political party ...

(ADR) to make

Luxembourgish Luxembourgish ( ; also ''Luxemburgish'', ''Luxembourgian'', ''Letzebu(e)rgesch''; Luxembourgish: ) is a West Germanic language that is spoken mainly in Luxembourg. About 400,000 people speak Luxembourgish worldwide. As a standard form of th ...

an official language of the European Union citing financial reasons and also that

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

and

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

being already official languages would be sufficient for the needs of Luxembourg. In early September 2016, Asselborn called for Hungary to be suspended or expelled from the European Union over its "massive violation" of EU fundamental values, citing concerns over its treatment of refugees during the

European refugee crisis The 2015 European migrant crisis, also known internationally as the Syrian refugee crisis, was a period of significantly increased movement of refugees and migrants into Europe in 2015, when 1.3 million people came to the continent to request ...

independence of the judiciary Judicial independence is the concept that the judiciary should be independent from the other branches of government. That is, courts should not be subject to improper influence from the other branches of government or from private or partisan inter ...

and

freedom of the press Freedom of the press or freedom of the media is the fundamental principle that communication and expression through various media, including printed and electronic media, especially published materials, should be considered a right to be exerc ...

. In March 2018, Asselborn condemned the Turkish invasion of northern Syria aimed at ousting US-backed

Syrian Kurds The Kurdish population of Syria ( ar, كرد سورية) is the country's largest ethnic minority, usually estimated at around 10% of the Syrian population Kurds are the largest ethnic minority in Syria, constituting around 10 per cent of th ...

from the enclave of Afrin. Asselborn said about

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula ...

's conduct that "this has nothing to do with self-defence any more", adding that Turkey would have to cease and desist from attacking the YPG and explain its conduct in Afrin to the

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two N ...

council. Asselborn doubted that the peace agreement between

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

and the

United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE; ar, اَلْإِمَارَات الْعَرَبِيَة الْمُتَحِدَة ), or simply the Emirates ( ar, الِْإمَارَات ), is a country in Western Asia (Middle East, The Middle East). It is ...

would bring stability to the region, stating there will be no stability without a

two-state solution The two-state solution to the Israeli–Palestinian conflict envisions an independent State of Palestine alongside the State of Israel, west of the Jordan River. The boundary between the two states is still subject to dispute and negotiation ...

, and said the UAE had let the

Palestinians Palestinians ( ar, الفلسطينيون, ; he, פָלַסְטִינִים, ) or Palestinian people ( ar, الشعب الفلسطيني, label=none, ), also referred to as Palestinian Arabs ( ar, الفلسطينيين العرب, label=non ...

down with the agreement.

Honorary distinctions

In December 2010, Jean Asselborn was awarded the Grand Cross of the Order of Merit (Großkreuz des Verdienstordens) of the Federal Republic of Germany. In October 2013, he was appointed Commander of the National Order of the Legion of Honour (Ordre national de la Légion d’honneur) of the French Republic.

References

External links