Luxembourg Foreign Minister Advocates Restoring Freedom of Movement in EU

At the invitation of his German counterpart Heiko Maas, Luxembourg's Minister of Foreign and European Affairs, Jean Asselborn, participated today in a video conference of the German-speaking foreign ministers.

The video conference, which also included Foreign Ministers Alexander Schallenberg (Austria), Ignazio Cassis (Switzerland) and Katrin Eggenberger (Liechtenstein), took place instead of the traditional annual meeting of the Foreign Ministers of the five countries.

This year's meeting centred on the COVID-19 (coronavirus) crisis. The five ministers had a constructive exchange about the need for a coordinated exit strategy for COVID-19 measures and the opening of internal borders in the Schengen area. In this context, Jean Asselborn regretted the closings and checks at the EU's internal borders and spoke in favour of restoring the free movement of people within the Schengen area as quickly as possible.

Minister Asselborn said: "We should avoid that the current situation leaves long-term traces in the border regions and work to ensure that the borders do not unnecessarily hinder our citizens in their movements". He thus called for EU action on the abolition of internal border controls and the restoration of the internal market in the coming weeks.

With regard to the consular cooperation between the individual countries, Jean Asselborn particularly praised the jointly organised European repatriations of many tourists and thanked the German-speaking partners for their mutual support. Minister Asselborn also recalled that since the outbreak of the COVID 19 crisis, many of the young people studying abroad have returned to their home countries. In this context, he underlined the need to ensure the transit and return of students to their places of study and advocated "simple and pragmatic solutions".

The ministers also exchanged views on asylum and migration issues. In this context, Minister Asselborn welcomed the fact that Germany has become the second EU country (after Luxembourg) to take in unaccompanied minors from refugee shelters on the Greek islands and expressed the hope that other countries would soon follow suit. The ministers also agreed that the precarious situation of refugees in the Greek islands requires an urgent solution. With regard to the European Commission's announced proposals to realign the Common European Asylum System, Minister Asselborn underlined the need for a fair asylum system based on responsibility and solidarity.

In the field of international politics, the five foreign ministers discussed their cooperation with the United Nations (UN).

Finally, Minister Heiko Maas informed his counterparts about the status of preparations for the German EU Council Presidency in the second half of the year.

The previous meeting of the German-speaking foreign ministers took place on 3 July 2019 in Schengen (Luxembourg) at the invitation of Jean Asselborn.