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Five employees of the General Department of Immigration were dismissed amid a large criminal probe into illegal immigration and corruption, authorities said. Minister Léon Gloden said he had been informed of the case in April 2025 and that the department itself had filed initial reports in January 2023. Three staff were dismissed after searches, one was remanded in custody, and two further employees were sacked following additional searches this week at the Immigration Directorate, the Ministry of Higher Education, several companies and private homes. The public prosecutor said the investigation, opened in summer 2023, concerned suspected corruption, influence peddling, money laundering, forgery, subsidy fraud, migrant smuggling and breaches of free‑movement and immigration laws.
The European Parliament approved a reform shifting unemployment benefit responsibility from country of residence to country of work for cross‑border workers after 22 weeks of uninterrupted employment. Luxembourg secured an extended transition period that could run to 2033. Under the new rule, workers with under 22 weeks covered will remain under their country of residence. Statistics Agency STATEC counted about 230,000 cross‑border workers in Luxembourg at end‑2025. The bill passed by 511 votes to 87 with 61 abstentions and now requires formal approval by the European Council. Luxembourg said its implementation window may be extended by up to two additional years if technical adjustments are needed, and that Adem will handle payments and administrative changes while cross‑border information‑sharing and control mechanisms are reinforced.
Defence Minister Yuriko Backes signed Luxembourg up to Nato projects on critical defence raw materials and the Global Eye reconnaissance system, the ministry said. Luxembourg will contribute to the MRTT programme, made a modest initial pledge to the raw‑materials initiative, and will join the multinational Global Eye effort to buy up to ten new surveillance aircraft alongside several allies. The government also backed the Defence, Security and Resilience Bank with a European hub and operational staff to be based in Luxembourg. Officials highlighted growing domestic defence industry capacity, while stressing the need for finance, skilled staff and competitive production.
