A petition filed late August calling for Luxembourgish to be made the principal national language, closed on Monday, and it broke all records obtaining no less than 14,683 signatures!

Within the first four days of going online, the petition had already reached the required 4,500 signatures needed for it to be heard in Parliament. Today it is a record breaker.

Petition 698 called for the Luxembourgish language to become the first national language above French and German, and that it should appear on all administrative documents, government communications and court decisions.

The initiator of the petition, Lucien Welter, wants to "save the Luxembourg language before it disappears."

This is actually an opinion shared by MP Claude Meisch who spoke in early October about the importance of "Luxembourgish being recognised at the same level as other national languages of the European Union."

An opposite petition

However, it isn't the only petition on the matter by any means. Petition 725 demands the reverse! "NO to Luxembourgish becoming the first official language in administrative and judicial matters."

Filed on October 5, it will be open for signatures from October 25. Its author, Joseph Schloesser, advocates openness and economic interests:

"We must, as we have always done, be open to others and not close in on ourselves. Our country has always had and always will have, a big need for foreign labour. These residents and cross-border workers currently represent almost 72% of the workforce compared to 28% of Luxembourgers. It is our duty and it is in our interest, to welcome these people in the best conditions. It is essential that contact is established in a language understandable to all and administrative forms and other official documents must be written in one of three languages that are compulsory in schools."