(Above) Luxembourg's Prime Minister Xavier Bettel with Palestine's Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh; (below) Palestine's Foreign Minister Riad Malki and Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh with Luxembourg's Foreign Minister Jean Asselborn;
Credit: SIP / Jean-Christophe Verhaegen; MAEE
On Thursday 28 October 2021, the Prime Minister and the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates of the State of Palestine, Mohammad Shtayyeh and Riad Malki, undertook a working visit to Luxembourg.
The two Palestinian officials were received by Luxembourg's Prime Minister and Minister of State, Xavier Bettel, for a working meeting at Hôtel Saint-Maximin (seat of the Ministry of State). Discussions focused on the internal situation in Palestine and the postponement of the elections, the peace process in the Middle East, as well as the continuation of national contributions to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA).
Regarding the peace process, Luxembourg's Prime Minister stressed the importance "for the two parties to identify confidence-building measures which should make it possible to relaunch the talks between Israel and Palestine, and also lead to the holding of elections in Palestine".
This meeting was followed by discussions at the Department for Development Cooperation and Humanitarian Affairs, during which Minister Franz Fayot reaffirmed the commitment of Luxembourg's development cooperation programme in Palestine. Discussions also focused on the current health situation, the scourge of high unemployment among young Palestinians and the continuation of cooperation between Luxembourg and Palestine.
Finally, the Palestinian Prime Minister and Foreign Minister met with Luxembourg's Minister of Foreign and European Affairs, Jean Asselborn, for a working dinner at Senningen Castle. Minister Asselborn expressed Luxembourg's solidarity with the Palestinian people in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. He reaffirmed the Grand Duchy's desire to support its development partners, including Palestine, in the face of the health crisis.
Regarding the current situation in the occupied Palestinian territory, Luxembourg's Foreign Minister noted that he was “deeply concerned by the escalation of the crackdown by the Israeli authorities against the Palestinian population living under their occupation, as well as the decision of the Israeli authorities to approve plans to build approximately 3,000 housing units in the occupied West Bank”. He stressed that the European Union (EU) and the international community must once again make the Middle East peace process a top priority.
Moreover, Minister Asselborn addressed the human rights situation in Palestine, emphasising that "the work of human rights defenders is essential and must not be criminalised, neither in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, nor elsewhere in the world".
The topics of intra-Palestinian reconciliation between the political party Fatah and the Hamas militant movement as well as the legislative, presidential and municipal elections in Palestine were also discussed during this meeting in Senningen.
