US Embassy in Luxembourg spreads official picture pretend | EUROtoday

Armand Back frequently seems on the social media appearances of politicians and diplomats. He additionally does this professionally: Back is editor-in-chief of the “Tageblatt” from Esch-sur-Alzette in Luxembourg. Now he reported in his newspaper that the US embassy had beforehand retouched a photograph that had been shared on Instagram. It exhibits Grand Duke Guillaume sitting within the center, the Luxembourg Finance Minister to his left, the Foreign Minister standing behind him, and behind Guillaume, in a fiery purple gown, the US Ambassador Stacey Feinberg. The picture was taken on April 14, 2026 on the presentation of the Luxembourg-American Chamber of Commerce Award.

“This photo caught my eye straight away,” Back tells the FAZ: “The whole thing, the way most people look and the setting, has a special flair, a bit as if it were the gathering of a shady family in a film.” He then zoomed in on the picture and instantly found a person and not using a shoulder or arm within the background. At that second Back suspected: Wait, somebody is lacking, an individual has been lower out. But who? Using a reverse search, he discovered the unique picture of the Luxembourg-American Chamber of Commerce on the web site of the enterprise journal “Paperjam”. There aren’t solely two males within the background, however above all a girl within the picture laughing immediately into the digicam, who has utterly disappeared within the edited picture.

Of course, Back needed to know the explanation for the retouching. But the US embassy instructed him roughly what the FAZ additionally realized upon request: “The picture shows official representatives at the Luxembourg American Business Award ceremony. We do not comment on individual people.” Back wrote in his newspaper: “The questions from the ‘Tageblatt’ as to who initiated the photo editing, why it was done at all and whether photo editing occurs regularly remained unanswered. There was also no statement on the question of whether the US Embassy considers it harmless to publish such edited photos of public figures such as the head of state and high-ranking ministers in Luxembourg.”

Back then came upon that the particular person eliminated was Cynthia Stroum, former US ambassador to Luxembourg. Stroum is near the Democratic Party and was in workplace from December 2009 to January 2011. According to the “Tageblatt”, her time was not problem-free. Reports mounted that the US State Department was dissatisfied together with her work. Later, the closure of the embassy in Luxembourg was reportedly even thought-about. Back then requested the Luxembourg dignitaries pictured within the picture. The Grand Ducal Court and the workplaces of the 2 ministers distanced themselves from the US Embassy’s actions.

In the remark column of the “Tageblatt” a reader in contrast the state of affairs with the Soviet Union. “This is also a famous case and the blueprint for everything that was to come later,” says Back to the FAZ: “The public is being deceived here, the picture no longer corresponds to reality. We should be very careful that such an approach does not become common practice in times of AI and fake news.” This is unacceptable even with this alleged triviality. Incidentally, Back doesn’t assume a political background; the previous ambassador merely fell into shame.