Luxembourg Foreign Minister Highlights Importance of Russia Sanctions at Antalya Diplomacy Forum

At the invitation of his Turkish counterpart, Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu, Luxembourg's Minister of Foreign and European Affairs, Jean Asselborn, travelled to Antalya in Turkey over the weekend to participate in the Antalya Diplomacy Forum (ADF), which was held under the theme "Recoding Diplomacy".

This High Level Forum brought together a large number of Heads of State or Government, Ministers of Foreign Affairs, representatives of international institutions, renowned academics, opinion leaders and representatives of the economic world to discuss major regional and international issues.

Minister Asselborn took this opportunity to conduct a series of bilateral interviews. He first spoke with Turkey's Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu. Following the meeting between the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of Russia and Ukraine, held in Antalya ahead of the ADF, Ministers Asselborn and Çavuşoğlu had an exchange of views on the latest developments in Ukraine and international efforts to end Russian aggression.

With regard to the various measures taken by the international community in response to the war launched by Russia, including in particular the sanctions against Russia, Luxembourg's Foreign Minister emphasised that sanctions must be imposed, with a view to solidarity, by the entire international community, even if these have a cost for each State.

Subsequently, Minister Asselborn met with Qatar's Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani. The two ministers discussed the latest international and regional developments, including the war in Ukraine as well as the political, security and humanitarian situation in Afghanistan. Minister Asselborn expressed Luxembourg and the European Union's (EU) recognition of the mediation efforts undertaken by Qatar in the Afghan situation.

Luxembourg's Foreign Minister also had a bilateral meeting with his North Macedonian counterpart, Minister of Foreign Affairs Bujar Osmani, to take stock of the latest developments in the Western Balkans. Minister Asselborn reiterated Luxembourg's support for the launch of EU accession negotiations with North Macedonia as soon as possible.

Finally, Minister Asselborn met the High Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina, Christian Schmidt. This exchange was an opportunity to discuss the current political and security situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Discussions also addressed the various means for Luxembourg to support the Office of the High Representative in its work aimed at resolving the current political crisis, preserving the functioning of state institutions and thus guaranteeing the stability of the country.