(L-R) Luxembourg’s Deputy Prime Minister, Minister for Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, Xavier Bettel; Romania’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Luminița-Teodora Odobescu;
Credit: MAE Luxembourg
Luxembourg’s Deputy Prime Minister, Minister for Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, Xavier Bettel, paid a working visit to Romania on Tuesday 23 and Wednesday 24 July 2024.
Minister Bettel first went to Cincu to visit the Getica military centre and meet the 27 members of the Luxembourg contingent forming part of the Forward Land Forces, a multinational NATO battalion.
In the presence of General Steve Thull, Chief of Defence and Chief of Staff of the Army, Minister Bettel thanked all the Luxembourg soldiers, whose presence is greatly appreciated by the Romanian authorities. Together with the French and Belgian soldiers also stationed in Cincu, the Luxembourg contingent contributes to ensuring security on NATO's eastern flank, Luxembourg’s Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs, Defence, Development Cooperation and Foreign Trade.
In Bucharest, the head of Luxembourg diplomacy then held a bilateral meeting with his counterpart, Romania’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Luminița-Teodora Odobescu. The agenda included bilateral relations between Luxembourg and Romania, including the presence of Luxembourg military personnel in Romania, a testament to the friendship and trust between the two countries.
The ministers also discussed ways to further strengthen economic relations between the two countries, particularly in the information and communication technologies (ICT) and cybersecurity sectors.
With this in mind, Ministers Bettel and Odobescu signed a bilateral exchange programme agreement in the fields of science, technology, higher education, education, culture, youth and sport.
The situation in the Black Sea, the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine and the war in Gaza were also discussed in depth, as were major European topics, such as EU enlargement, Schengen and the importance of the rule of law.
At the invitation of the Romanian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Minister Bettel also spoke at the Annual Meeting of Romanian Diplomacy in a panel discussion on the multiple crises facing the European Union and NATO.
