Franz Peter Basten, Klaus Jensen Awarded Order of Merit

On Thursday 10 February 2022, Luxembourg's Minister for Foreign and European Affairs, Jean Asselborn, awarded the Order of Merit of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg to the former Honorary Consuls of Luxembourg, Mr Franz Peter Basten and Mr Klaus Jensen, at Senningen Castle.

The Order of Merit of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg is awarded to the two former honorary consuls for their special efforts and commitment to cross-border cooperation between the Trier region and Luxembourg.

In addition to the former honorary consuls, the Prime Minister of the state of Rhineland-Palatinate, Malu Dreyer, and the current honorary consul of Luxembourg in Trier, Jan Glockauer, took part in the presentation of the Order.

Franz Peter Basten and Klaus Jensen advocated cross-border cooperation between Rhineland-Palatinate and Luxembourg long before they became honorary consuls. "You have contributed to the fact that Europe has become a daily reality for the citizens of our border region, and that this border region is now a European model region," stressed Minister Asselborn.

The important key figures underline a trend that has been unbroken for decades: the number of cross-border commuters from Rhineland-Palatinate to Luxembourg has doubled to almost 40,000 in the last 20 years. Thousands of Luxembourgers do their shopping in department stores and shops in and around Trier, while 80% of craft businesses on the German side generate a significant proportion of their sales in Luxembourg. "This is a functioning Europe without borders, which, thanks to the internal market and the Schengen Agreement, has also become one of the key achievements of the European unification process for millions of people in other border regions of Europe," said Minister Asselborn in his speech.

Minister Asselborn added: “Franz Peter and Klaus have worked in the past to ensure that citizens in the border region can fully benefit from the advantages of this freedom of movement. Mention should be made here of the consultation hours at the consulate and the support and assistance given to Luxembourg citizens in the border region in dealing with administrative formalities. The growing number of Luxembourgers who have settled in the consular district over the years - the number has increased tenfold in 30 years to 11,000 today - meant that this became a growing effort. Because both of them have tirelessly and selflessly devoted themselves to this consular task, as well as working to improve understanding between our fellow citizens on both sides of the border, I suggested to the Grand Duke that both of them should be awarded this commendable award".

Franz Peter Basten, former Judge, state secretary in the state government of Rhineland-Palatinate and member of the Bundestag (German Parliament), held the office of honorary consul from 2007 to 2015.

Klaus Jensen, who started out as a social planner for the city of Trier, was involved in various voluntary work before becoming state secretary for the state of Rhineland-Palatinate and later mayor of the city of Trier. From 2015 to 2020 he was Honorary Consul of Luxembourg in Trier.