About this Episode
Georges Engel and Maxime Miltgen have been elected co-presidents of the Luxembourg Socialist Workers’ Party, the LSAP, during the party congress. Member of Parliament and former labour and sports minister Engel received more than 90 percent of the votes, while Luxembourg City councillor Miltgen secured 78.5 percent. Both candidates ran without opposition. They succeed Francine Closener and Dan Biancalana, who led the party for four years and did not seek re-election.
Meanwhile, the municipality of Grevenmacher is opposing government plans to turn its largest forest into a national nature reserve. Local councillors voted unanimously against the proposal last week. The planned Oberdonven-Houwald reserve would cover around 450 hectares, mostly owned by the municipality. The Ministry of the Environment says the area shelters rare species and forms an ecological corridor. Mayor Monique Hermes says the forest is already protected under national legislation and should remain available for sustainable forestry. The final decision lies with the ministry.
Separately, an employee of the Northern Wastewater Syndicate, SIDEN, is suspected of embezzling around €73,000 from the organisation’s accounts. SIDEN president and Feulen mayor Fernand Mergen confirmed the allegation. The irregularity was discovered during a routine review of accounts last week. The employee was suspended, bank access was blocked and legal proceedings were launched. The public prosecutor has opened an investigation, while a full audit is underway to determine whether additional funds may be missing.
