A heated debate occurred in the Chamber of Deputies on Wednesday when members of the Christian Social People's Party (CSV) accused Minister of Foreign and European Affairs Jean Asselborn of having mismanaged Luxembourg's foreign policies for the past 20 years.

According to CSV MP Claude Wiseler, Luxembourg's foreign policies over the past 20 years have been like a "blind flight without a pilot, plan, or direction". The country's largest opposition party thus argued that the Grand Duchy needs more coherent foreign policies that actually deserve being labelled as such.

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One of the major points of criticism addressed by the CSV were the Middle East policies. MP Wiseler described them as one-sided and showed little understanding for some of the resolutions passed by the United Nations. He elaborated: "For example the vote in which we condemned Israel for violating women's rights, a motion supported by Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Pakistan, and Iran. How can this be? Seriously? For us this is incomprehensible."

Minister Asselborn countered by highlighting the situation of Palestinian women and their need for help. The respective resolution in the UN's Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) was passed by 40 out of 54 members, which the politician all listed individually. They included France, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Portugal, among others.

Infuriated, Minister Asselborn further noted that the resolution was not only passed in 2019 when Luxembourg was a member of the panel, but also in 2022 when this was no longer the case. He therefore vehemently refused the accusation of supporting a resolution against Israel.

The politician from the Luxembourg Socialist Workers' Party (LSAP) stated: "This should not be said. After all, you have to study the situation before making accusations, and we provide you with all the information on UN activities that you require. ... It is really terrible, terrible to hear such lies from one of the biggest parties here in Luxembourg. Lies, all lies!"

Minister Asselborn later retracted this last statement, noting that he was taken by emotion. Nevertheless, he said that foreign policies concern the entire country and should not be fought as a battle between parties.