Xavier Bettel, Luxembourg Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade; Credit: MAE

From Tuesday 4 to Wednesday 5 November 2025, Luxembourg Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, Xavier Bettel, took part in the 43rd UNESCO General Conference, in Samarkand, Uzbekistan.

According to the Ministry for Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, the visit formed part of Luxembourg’s campaign for a seat on the UNESCO Executive Board. The election will take place on Friday 7 November 2025. This candidacy comes twenty years after Luxembourg last sat on the organisation’s Executive Board.

The ministry reported that during his address in the plenary session of the General Conference, Minister Bettel spoke about the multiple crises facing the world today, highlighting climate change, the questioning of multilateralism and the rise of nationalism. He stressed that UNESCO plays an essential role in promoting and safeguarding cultural heritage as well as our shared values, recalling that diversity is a strength rather than a weakness.

Regarding Luxembourg’s candidacy for the Executive Board, Minister Bettel stated: “Luxembourg’s candidacy for a seat on the UNESCO Executive Board is a candidacy for dialogue, for living together and for a shared commitment to addressing common challenges.”

According to the ministry, Luxembourg’s priorities for the Executive Board are:

  1. education;
  2. culture, multilingualism and intercultural exchange;
  3. information and communication;
  4. science.

The ministry added that on the margins of the conference, Minister Bettel participated in the launch of the report on global trends in freedom of expression and media development, presented by UNESCO’s Deputy Director-General, Tawfik Jelassi.

Moreover, Minister Bettel also held bilateral meetings with outgoing UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay; UNESCO’s Director-General-designate, Khaled el-Enany; Ukraine’s Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs, Marianna Betsa; and Uzbekistan’s Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs, Bakhromjon Aloyev.