L-R: François Bausch, Luxembourg's Deputy Prime Minister & Minister of Defence; Bjørn Arild Gram, Norway's Minister of Defence;
Credit: MAEE
On Monday 5 September 2022, Luxembourg's Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defence, François Bausch, met with the Norwegian Minister of Defence, Bjørn Arild Gram, during a working visit to Oslo, Norway.
During this meeting, the two Defence Ministers discussed the consequences of the Russia-Ukraine war for European security and the continued support for Ukraine. Minister Bausch reviewed the main decisions recently taken at European Union (EU) level in support of Ukraine.
The ministers thus consulted with one another ahead of the second in-person meeting of the "Ukraine Defense Contact Group", organised on the initiative of the Secretary of Defence of the United States (US), Lloyd Austin, at Ramstein Air Base in Germany on Thursday 8 September 2022. Minister Bausch stressed the importance of this initiative in order to best coordinate the support efforts of donor countries according to the real needs expressed by the Ukrainian authorities. "To date, we have delivered weapons and military equipment worth €66 million, or around 15% of our annual defence budget", Luxembourg's Defence Minister explained.
The two ministers welcomed the good cooperation between Norway and the EU in the field of defence, in particular through participation in the Permanent Structured Cooperation (PESCO), the European Defence Fund (EDF) or cooperation with the European Defence Agency (EDA).
Finally, the Luxembourgish and Norwegian Ministers of Defence discussed the consequences of climate change for defence and the carbon footprint of this sector. Minister Bausch congratulated Minister Gram on Norway's pioneering role in the field of green defence, highlighting in particular the new methodology for assessing the carbon footprint of defence, the "Life Cycle Assessment", which Luxembourg has itself adopted in the meantime.
"Climate change is a reality and constitutes a major security risk, especially in the Far North. We must significantly reduce the carbon footprint of defence by investing in research and development of innovative green technologies and forms of propulsion", Minister Bausch concluded.
