Yuriko Backes was born on 22 December 1970 in Kobe, Japan.

Education and qualifications

After graduating with an International Baccalaureate from the Canadian Academy International School in Kobe in 1989, Yuriko Backes obtained a bachelor’s degree in international relations from the London School of Economics and Political Science in 1992. She then attended the School of Oriental and African Studies in London, where she successfully completed a master’s degree in Japanese studies in 1993. Yuriko Backes obtained a second master’s degree in European political and administrative studies from the College of Europe in Bruges in 1994.

Governmental posts

On 5 January 2022, Yuriko Backes joined the coalition government between the Democratic Party (DP), the Luxembourg Socialist Workers’ Party (LSAP) and the Green Party (déi gréng) as Minister of Finance. Following the legislative elections of 8 October 2023, Yuriko Backes was appointed Minister of Defence, Minister for Mobility and Public Works and Minister for Gender Equality and Diversity on 17 November 2023 in the coalition government between the Christian Social People’s Party (CSV) and the Democratic Party (DP).

Professional activities

Yuriko Backes began her professional career in 1994 as chargée de mission at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and has held various positions, including at the Permanent Representation of Luxembourg to the United Nations in New York, the Permanent Representation of Luxembourg to the
Western European Union in Brussels, and the Luxembourg Embassy in Japan. Attached to the Directorate of European Affairs and International Economic Relations of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Luxembourg, she was sworn in as a civil servant in 2001. The career diplomat was then assigned to the Permanent Representation of Luxembourg to the European Union in Brussels from 2001 to 2006. She continued her diplomatic career as deputy head of mission at the Luxembourg Embassy in Japan from 2006 to 2008 and as deputy head of the Directorate for International Economic Relations at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Luxembourg from 2008 to 2010.

From 2010 to 2016, Yuriko Backes was the diplomatic adviser and sherpa to Luxembourg Prime Ministers Jean-Claude Juncker and Xavier Bettel. She was the representative of the European Commission in Luxembourg from 2016 to 2020.

From June 2020 until her appointment to the government as Minister of Finance, she served as marshal of the GrandDucal Court.

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