Luxembourg's Prime Minister Xavier Bettel;
Credit: SIP / Yves Kortum
On Friday 25 September 2020, Luxembourg's Prime Minister Xavier Bettel participated in the high-level meeting of the 75th session of the United Nations (UN) General Assembly.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Prime Minister's statement was made virtually through a pre-recorded message. During his introduction, he noted: “We will remember the year 2020. We cannot meet as usual in this room which is once a year the centre of the planet. New York, which is the most open city there is, [...] cannot welcome us. It was for many weeks one of the epicenters of the global health crisis, and here I want to pay particular tribute to it".
In his speech, he emphasised the impact that the pandemic has had on everyone: "We are facing a situation of planetary emergency. The crisis hit all regions of the world almost simultaneously. It has been accompanied by limitations on public freedoms, a return of borders, a questioning of the achievements of free trade and economic integration as well as an unprecedented test of public and private health care systems, not to mention the ethical issues that many of us have not been confronted with for ages”.
At the same time, Luxembourg's Prime Minister noted: “We have also seen very many concrete examples of solidarity between countries and peoples. I am thinking here of medical evacuations. The disruption of supply chains and obstacles to the movement of especially protective equipment have also posed a significant challenge. In this regard, I would like to thank the states which helped us acquire protective equipment at the height of the crisis".
Nevertheless, Prime Minister Xavier Bettel was concerned about the rise of authoritarianism: “The COVID crisis has exacerbated the temptations to reduce public freedoms beyond what was necessary. In many regions and states, civic space is shrinking. The repression of opponents or defenders of human rights is becoming commonplace". He added: “Authoritarianism feeds conflicts as well as living in them".
Luxembourg's Prime Minister concluded by warning against any tendency to call into question multilateralism: “For our part, Luxembourg adheres to an international order based on the rule of law and the sovereignty of States; there is no contradiction between the two. The United Nations is the umbrella organisation of the international system and as such the guarantor of multilateralism. In our globalised and interdependent world, isolated, non-concerted action constitutes a risk for all, including those who do not feel bound by the common rule. The coronavirus crisis is here to remind us of this in the clearest and most obvious way possible".
Prime Minister Xavier Bettel also participated in the meeting of the General Assembly to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the UN, which was held virtually on 21 September 2020. In his speech, he noted: “The special circumstances surrounding the 75th anniversary of the United Nations remind us how deeply our world is failing to always be united. All of these challenges are linked. We can only meet them by joining our forces, our resources and our wills. Although it may seem slow at times and we must continue to make it more effective, there is no alternative to multilateralism. We are not masters of the future, but we will be up to the challenges if we act together, by cooperating in good faith within the United Nations".
Today, Monday 28 September 2020, the Prime Minister will attend the “Leaders Event on Nature and People” which will introduce the “Leaders' Pledge for Nature” with the aim of generating a more ambitious political commitment in the field of the environment and climate.
