In mid-April, Grand Duke Guillaume, Xavier Bettel and Gilles Roth took part in an economic event in New York. US Ambassador Stacey Feinberg was also on site. Both Feinberg and the US Embassy in Luxembourg later released a photo of the evening – albeit in an edited form. Several people were removed from the shot using image editing.
The missing woman in the middle of the picture in particular raised questions. The Daily newspaper reported on Tuesday exclusively about it. The US embassy initially did not want to say who it was. It is now clear: the person removed is Cynthia Stroum, former US ambassador to Luxembourg.
The damning report from Washington
Stroum was in office from December 2009 to January 2011 – a comparatively short term. For good reason: two weeks after her resignation, the US State Department published a report on the conditions in the embassy on Limpertsberg. Stroum was sharply criticized in it. She was accused of, among other things, a “confrontational leadership style”, chronic staffing gaps and a lack of a clear strategic direction. Parts of the embassy fell into a “state of dysfunction” under her leadership.
This was already reported in February 2011 Daily newspaperthat there was great dissatisfaction in Washington with the performance of the embassy. “Due to internal problems, the embassy does not play a crucial role in advocacy and reporting,” it said at the time, citing the report. The developments in Luxembourg are certainly relevant for the USA and other embassies in EU and NATO countries.
Tensions within the embassy are said to have reached such a level that employees spoke of a climate of intimidation. Some have even asked for transfers to operational areas such as Iraq or Afghanistan.
Questions about image editing remain unanswered
Even after her departure, Stroum remained connected to the Grand Duchy. According to one Daily newspaperAccording to a 2015 report, she helped organize a trip by then-Prime Minister Xavier Bettel. In an interview with the Business Journal She explained at the time that she had campaigned for a branch of the Starbucks coffee house chain to come to Luxembourg. The first branch opened at Findel Airport at the beginning of 2016. Today the chain has several locations in the country. Stroum confessed at the time that she was “a fan” of Bettels.
Stroum, a Seattle philanthropist, venture capital investor and major Democratic fundraiser, was appointed ambassador to Luxembourg by Barack Obama in 2009.
However, the US Embassy does not seem to have many positive memories of its time in office. Even 15 years later, Stroum is removed from official photos. This time from one with Grand Duke Guillaume, Finance Minister Gilles Roth and – perhaps particularly bitterly for Stroum – Foreign Minister Xavier Bettel.
