On the evening of Sunday 15 November 2015, Luxembourg Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Internal Security, Étienne Schneider, met with French Minister of the Interior, Bernard Cazeneuve, in Paris after convening an extraordinary 'Justice and Home Affairs' Council meeting in response to Friday's terrorist attacks in the French capital city.
The meeting, at which European Commissioner for Migration, Home Affairs and Citizenship, Dimitris Avramopoulos, was also in attendance, aimed to strengthen the European response to the multiple attacks on Paris which resulted in a death toll of more than 129 people. The meeting offered an opportunity to prepare for the extraordinary meeting which has been convened by the Deputy Prime Minister on behalf of the Luxembourg Presidency of the Council of the EU for 20 November 2015 in Brussels.
"We have met this evening in Paris in order to coordinate the immediate European action in response to the attacks and to prevent future attacks," stated Étienne Schneider in a statement released yesterday evening. "European citizens expect a rapid, concrete and efficient response from the European Union".
The Internal Security Minister cited the terrorist acts as "an attack against Europe as a whole", declaring that the Union "has an historic responsibility to defend its fundamental values and not to succumb to terror".
EU Ministers are gathering today in Brussels to show their solidarity with the French Government and people at the 'Foreign Affairs' Council.
Luxembourg Minister of Foreign and European Affairs, Jean Asselborn, will be participating in the Council, where the ministers will be taking stock of the recent elections in Myanmar before turning to the Middle East and the state of the peace process, discussing actions to restore confidence between the two parties.
The Council is also due to discuss migration as a follow up to the Valletta Summit and the Conference on the Eastern Mediterranean and Western Balkans route. The Ministers will also discuss the situation in Syria and Libya and the EU's capacity to support the search for political solutions in both countries.
Finally, Ministers present will look to the eastern neighbourhood of the EU, with talks centering around recent developments in the region with regards to commitments made at the Eastern Partnership summut held in Riga in May earlier this year.
Photo by European Union (L-R: European Commissioner for Migration, Home Affairs and Citizenship, Dimitris Avramopoulos; Luxembourg Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Internal Security, Étienne Schneider)
