Luxembourg to Finance Student Scholarship in Albania

Luxembourg's Prime Minister, Luc Frieden, was in Brussels attending the EU-Western Balkans summit and the European Council, from Wednesday 13 to Friday 15 December 2023.

On Wednesday 13 December he attended the annual summit between the European Union and the Western Balkan countries which allowed the adoption of a joint declaration by the Council and partner countries which reiterated their mutual desire to deepen their relations. In addition to the pillars of existing cooperation, for example on free movement, the main points of the declaration state the importance of alignment with the common foreign and security policy of the European Union, as well as enhanced cooperation in security and defence matters. In the current geopolitical context, continued engagement with the Western Balkan countries is of strategic importance.

Furthermore, in order to follow up on the conclusions of the last summit which took place in Tirana, Luxembourg has committed to financing a student scholarship for the inaugural year of the campus of the College of Europe, which is to be established in Albania.

This summit was immediately followed by a European Council which extended over two days, on 14 and 15 December: the subjects on the agenda were the situation in Ukraine and the Middle East, enlargement and reforms, the multiannual financial framework 2021-2027, security and defence, migration, EU-Turkey relations, the fight against anti-Semitism, racism and xenophobia and the strategic programme.

A strong signal of solidarity was sent to the international community: the European Union decided to open accession negotiations with Ukraine and the Republic of Moldova, to grant candidate country status to Georgia under provided that the measures recommended by the Commission are taken and to open accession negotiations with Bosnia and Herzegovina once the necessary degree of compliance with the accession criteria is achieved. The EU also stated that it is ready to complete the opening phase of accession negotiations with North Macedonia once certain constitutional changes referred to in prior Council conclusions can be carried out.

While discussions on the 2021-2027 multiannual financial framework led the Council to re-set a date at the start of 2024 to return to the subject, discussions on the subject of security within the Union enabled a concrete result: this involves increasing the interoperability and production capacity of the European defence industry, among other things through the establishment of a European defence industrial strategy.