Luxembourg's Prime Minister Xavier Bettel;
Credit: © SIP/Thierry Monasse
Luxembourg's Prime Minister Xavier Bettel participated in the European Council in Brussels on Thursday 29 and Friday 30 June 2023.
The meeting of heads of state and government was preceded by a lunch in the presence of NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg. This exchange addressed subjects such as the security situation in Europe and the NATO summit set to take place in Vilnius, Lithuania on Tuesday 11 and Wednesday 12 July 2023.
Subsequent discussions between European leaders began with the topics of the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine and its consequences, as well as the security architecture in Europe. Prime Minister Bettel recalled the need to "support Ukraine for as long as necessary, without fail" and also emphasised the role of the European Peace Facility (EPF) in offering the possibility of acting quickly and flexibly while taking into account the current security environment and its preventive and global character.
The conclusions referring to this subject state that "the European Union remains firmly committed to ensuring that Russia is held fully accountable for its war of aggression against Ukraine. The European Council welcomes the fact that the International Centre for the Prosecution of the Crime of Aggression against Ukraine (ICPA) is ready to start its support operations."
Also on the agenda of the European Council were issues relating to migration. In this context, Luxembourg's Prime Minister recalled that human rights and international law must be at the heart of this debate and that they remain non-negotiable. He also pointed out to his counterparts that the EU is at a particularly critical and delicate moment in the process of reforming European rules on migration and asylum and that interinstitutional negotiations and the foundations of the EU, particularly the treaties, must be protected.
These exchanges between European leaders once again touched on the EU economy, including efforts developed within the framework of the green and economic transitions, external relations and relations between the EU and China.
