The Luxembourg case concerns Russian-Israeli businessman Mikhail Fridman, who filed a claim seeking $16 billion in damages from Luxembourg after his assets in the country were frozen. In the Chamber, reactions to the Luxembourg approach are mixed.
The DP faction says that it was not informed internally of the decision, instead learning of the matter via the media.
The international press has reported that the Luxembourg government allegedly put pressure on the EU to remove Fridman's name from the sanctions list. This was a criticism that was expressed by more than one parliamentary group or political leader in talks with RTL, but the remark also came from within the ranks of a government party.
The DP parliamentary group president Gilles Baum said: "I must tell you, I was informed of this by the press. I'm very surprised, I didn't have a chance to speak to people within my party or indeed in the government. We will discuss this over the coming days."
Baum declined to share his opinion of the decision itself.
However, the Left's Marc Baum was much less reticent when faced with reporters: "Without details, it seems to me as though our country has allowed itself to be pressured by Russia, by the aggressor, no more and no less."
If it transpires that the government succumbed to the pressures inflicted by Fridman then the decision to drop the sanctions would be regrettable, says Green MP Sam Tanson: "The sanctions aren't there just to balance one's own interests, they're in place because Russia launched an illegal war against Ukraine."
The LSAP submitted an urgent parliamentary question and said it would not accept the explanation that Luxembourg only submitted this demand because other countries wanted to amend the list.
Leader Taina Bofferding said:
It does sound a bit like there was some kind of horse trading going on, no one wants to take a clear position. And I also regret that the press intervened to find out something specific from the government, that no one wanted to take a position. Now we're getting it via a parliamentary question, but that also shows the government's communication, which really leaves more to be desired.
But not everyone in the Chamber of Deputies is criticising the government's handling of the matter.
CSV president Laurent Zeimet said he fully supports the government's approach: "I can only note that two people have been removed from the sanctions list, one of whom was in conflict with Luxembourg, so I think this solution was found with the country's best interests in mind."
The ADR's Fred Keup also supports Luxembourg's decision: "I think we were and still are in a situation where Luxembourg has a very big financial risk, where we are talking about billions that we could potentially pay back, and I'm rather happy about that, because I think of my country when the sanctions are lifted."
Prime Minister Luc Frieden referred to high national interests, possibly in reference to the requested 16 billion, which would make up about half of the state budget.
There was another edition of the Sproochentest this afternoon, with Tom testing John's ability to recognise popular songs, translated into Luxembourgish!
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