27 Facts About Xavier Bettel

Xavier Bettel served as the 24th prime minister of Luxembourg from 2013 to 2023.

Xavier Bettel was a member of the Chamber of Deputies from 1999 to 2013 and mayor of Luxembourg City from 2011 to 2013.

Xavier Bettel became the first openly gay prime minister in the world to serve a second term in 2018, when his mandate was renewed.

Xavier Bettel was appointed deputy prime minister in 2023 in the Frieden-Bettel Government.

Xavier Bettel was born on 3 March 1973 in Luxembourg City and grew up in Roeser.

Xavier Bettel's father, Claude Bettel, was a French transport entrepreneur of Luxembourgish origin who moved to Luxembourg in 1971, eventually joining the DP and becoming a member of the Luxembourgish National Council for Foreigners.

Xavier Bettel has said he has an Orthodox Russian grandfather and a Polish-Jewish grandfather, while his parents were Catholics.

Xavier Bettel's mother Aniela is a grandniece of the Russian composer Sergei Rachmaninoff.

Xavier Bettel studied maritime law as well as canon law at Aristotle University in Thessaloniki, Greece, where he was studying thanks to the Erasmus Programme.

Xavier Bettel joined the DP in 1988 at age 15, and became the president of the party's youth wing in 1993.

On 28 November 2005, after the municipal elections in which he was placed fourth on the DP list, Xavier Bettel was appointed echevin in the council of Luxembourg City.

Xavier Bettel resigned from his position as DP leader in the Chamber of Deputies, which he had held since 2009.

Xavier Bettel ran for the Chamber of Deputies in the 1999 general election; he finished tenth amongst DP candidates in the Centre constituency, with the top seven being elected.

In 2013, Xavier Bettel was elected leader of the Democratic Party.

Xavier Bettel assumed his post as Luxembourg's Prime Minister on 4 December 2013.

Xavier Bettel began his second term when his government was formed on 5 December 2018, which he led with co-Deputy Prime Ministers Francois Bausch and Dan Kersch.

On 16 September 2019, following a short bilateral meeting on the status of Brexit negotiations, Xavier Bettel continued a press conference without British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, after Johnson abruptly pulled out due to an anti-Brexit protest held by British citizens living in Luxembourg.

Xavier Bettel gestured towards Johnson's empty podium and confirmed that the UK Government had not tabled any concrete proposals for amendments to the UK's Withdrawal Agreement, particularly the "Irish backstop" that Johnson wished to replace.

Xavier Bettel was appointed Deputy Prime Minister in the Frieden-Xavier Bettel Government, after the coalition lost the 2023 election and only gained 29 seats.

Xavier Bettel is in charge of foreign and European affairs, development cooperation, foreign trade as well as the Greater region.

In February 2024, Xavier Bettel told Israel they risked losing "the last support they have in the world" if they attacked Rafah.

Xavier Bettel, who is openly gay, has stated that increasingly in Luxembourg "people do not consider the fact of whether someone is gay or not".

Xavier Bettel was one of four openly gay world leaders in office, the others being Ana Brnabic, the Prime Minister of Serbia, Leo Varadkar, the Taoiseach of Ireland, and Edgars Rinkevics, the President of Latvia.

Xavier Bettel has been married to Gauthier Destenay since 2015, the same year that same-sex marriage was introduced in Luxembourg.

On 4 July 2021, Xavier Bettel was admitted to hospital following a COVID-19 diagnosis on 27 June.

On 7 July 2021, the government said that Xavier Bettel would remain hospitalised a "little bit longer" due to low saturation of oxygen in his blood and that he was recovering "little by little".

Xavier Bettel thanked health authorities for the treatment during his hospitalisation period.