Luxembourg will not adopt a law prohibiting the wearing of a full-body veil in public spaces. The decision was made on Friday evening by four government ministers and the leaders of the four largest parliamentary factions.
Reacting to the various stances of Luxembourg’s political parties on whether there was a need to legislate the wearing of a full veil in public places in the Grand Duchy, Xavier Bettel announced less than a week ago the desire “to settle this problem with a calm mind. We must not fall into populism and, above all, we have to avoid amalgams.”
As expected, on Tuesday evening at 5pm, Prime Minister Xavier Bettel (DP), Deputy Prime Minister Etienne Schneider (LSAP), the Minister of Justice Felix Braz (the Greens) and the Interior Minister Dan Kercsh (LSAP) met the leaders of parliamentary factions of the DP, LSAP, the Greens and the CSV.
Only by commune regulation
The decision was made that there will be no ban on the wearing of the niqab or burka at the national level. However, the eight politicians agreed that the decision is now up to the communes. Communes may set up a communal regulation forbidding the wearing of a full veil if they deem it necessary. The pertinent authorities would need to have training.
In Luxembourg , only 16 Muslim women today wear the niqab, a full veil with a slit so only the eyes are visible. In the Grand Duchy, there aren’t any Muslim women wearing the burka, the full veil which covers the eyes by a semi-transparent cloth.
Earlier this month, those who wear the niqab in Luxembourg had expressed their desire to meet the Prime Minister if the government was going to move in the direction of banning the full veil in public spaces, since they would be the first ones concerned.