© David Winter / RTL
Former Luxembourg Foreign Minister Jean Asselborn expressed concern over global uncertainties as 2025 approaches, sharing his anxieties about the future in an RTL interview.
As 2025 approaches, former Luxembourg Foreign Minister Jean Asselborn voiced his concerns in an RTL interview on Tuesday morning. Acknowledging a sense of uncertainty, he admitted that many, including himself, are feeling some anxiety about what lies ahead.
Asselborn emphasised that it’s too early to predict the future, especially with Donald Trump's impending swearing-in for a second term as US President on 20 January. Despite the challenges, he remains hopeful for a ceasefire in Ukraine and potentially in the Middle East.
In Europe, Asselborn voiced particular concern over the political situation in France, criticising President Macron and his successive Prime Ministers for attempting to secure a majority by aligning with the far-right Rassemblement National. He also criticised them for the tremendous debts that the country have and that it was a huge mistake to dissolve the government. He argued that this approach was misguided and suggested at looking to the left in order to form a "normal" coalition. However, he felt less worried about Germany, confident that the Alternative for Germany (AfD) would not be joining the government.
In his criticism of far-right movements, Asselborn stressed the importance of opposing parties like the AfD, which, he believes, do not support the core values of post-Second World War Europe. He labelled such parties as xenophobic and against tolerance. On the topic of responses to attacks, he affirmed that it is both normal and justified to defend against extremism but expressed regret over the growing trend in Europe to side with those who label everyone as a terrorist, calling it harmful and wrong. According to Asselborn, the opportunity to establish a European migration policy was missed in 2015.
Reflecting on the political landscape since Brexit and Trump’s first election, Asselborn suggested that many people, even in Europe, had lost their sense of direction, no longer understanding what was "right and wrong," leading many to "veer off course".The resistance against progressivism might, in his view, be "a phenomenon of the times." His wish would be for people to stand up for the rule of law and the separation of powers, for a free press and an independent judiciary.
While Asselborn refrained from commenting on Luxembourg's domestic politics, he made it clear that, after four decades in politics, he has now stepped back and brought his career to a close.
