Jean Asselborn at the meeting of NATO foreign ministers in Bucharest

The first working session dedicated to Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine was held with the participation of the invited countries, Finland and Sweden, and continued with an informal dinner with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Dmitry Kuleba.

After recalling Luxembourg’s support for Ukraine to date, Minister Asselborn stressed the importance of the Alliance “maintaining its unity and unity” as well as “supporting Ukraine by all means and for as long as necessary”, and this, given the winter, which promises to be especially difficult.

Regarding the expansion of the alliance, the minister expressed his hope that the ratification procedure of the membership of Finland and Sweden will be completed soon and emphasized that we “must not ignore or delay the desire of millions of Finns for more security. Swedes”.

The NATO Foreign Ministers then addressed issues related to the Strategic Concept, China and the sustainability of the Alliance. Regarding China, Minister Asselborn expressed concern about the internal drift in respect of human rights.

“Luxembourg also strives to learn the right lessons from our disproportionate dependence on Russia in terms of energy. We cannot make such miscalculations a second time. We must reduce our strategic dependence on China, identify and reduce our weaknesses, and ensure the integrity of our supply chains,” the minister noted.

Although sustainability issues remain a national responsibility, the Alliance can play an important role as a platform for sharing “best practices” to define common goals. In this context, Minister Asselborn also emphasized the great added value that deep cooperation with the European Union can achieve in the field of sustainability.

Finally, the last working session with the participation of the foreign ministers of Bosnia-Herzegovina, Georgia and Moldova was dedicated to the Alliance partnership. In this context, the head of Luxembourg diplomacy stated: “We have a common goal: security, peace and stability in the Euro-Atlantic region. Taking into account the impact of Russia’s aggression against Ukraine on your country and its malicious influence and coercion on your countries. Now is the time to intensify our cooperation.”

In this regard, welcoming the efforts of the Alliance to strengthen its support through the Defense Capabilities and Defense-related Security Capabilities (DCB) initiative, Minister Asselborn was able to announce that Luxembourg will allocate an additional million euros to each of these three participating partners.

Within the framework of this NATO ministerial meeting, the Luxembourg Benelux presidency organized a joint meeting between the Benelux and Scandinavian countries for the first time, bringing together Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden.

Press release of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and European Affairs