Luxembourg, Slovenia Sign Space Sector MoU

On Tuesday 12 September 2023, upon invitation of Luxembourg’s Prime Minister, Xavier Bettel, the Prime Minister of the Republic of Slovenia, Robert Golob, accompanied by his partner Tina Gaber, made an official visit to Luxembourg.

Prime Minister Xavier Bettel welcomed the head of the Slovenian government in Place de Clairefontaine, in Luxembourg-Ville. After the military honours and the presentation of the delegations, the two counterparts had a bilateral meeting at the Hôtel Saint-Maximin, followed by a working meeting extended to the delegations. According to the Ministry of State, the discussions focused mainly on bilateral relations between the Republic of Slovenia and the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg as well as major international issues.

Prime Minister Bettel notably emphasised during his interview with Prime Minister Golob that this visit constitutes a new step in the deepening of bilateral relations between Luxembourg and Slovenia, and that direct flights between the two capitals, which will be inaugurated on Thursday 14 September 2023, will promote cooperation in the field of tourism and exchanges in the field of higher education.

Subsequently, Prime Minister Golob and Prime Minister Bettel went to Schengen for a visit to the historic Schengen Agreement monument which commemorates the signing of the Schengen agreements in 1985 and 1990, in the presence of the mayor of the municipality of Schengen, Michel Gloden.

The two Prime Ministers had the opportunity to continue their discussions during an official lunch offered by Prime Minister Bettel in honour of the Slovenian Prime Minister, in which Tina Gaber and Gauthier Destenay also participated, the Ministry of State noted.

At the beginning of the afternoon, Prime Minister Golob had an interview with the President of the Chamber of Deputies, Fernand Etgen. He then had an exchange of views with the members of the Bureau (executive office) as well as the members of the Committee on Foreign and European Affairs, Cooperation, Immigration and Asylum.

The Slovenian Prime Minister and the Luxembourg Prime Minister were welcomed at the Luxembourg Chamber of Commerce by Carlo Thelen, Director General, as part of the Slovenia-Luxembourg Business Forum. Prime Minister Golob and Prime Minister Bettel gave speeches during the forum. The programme also included a signing ceremony of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) between the Republic of Slovenia and the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg in the space sector.

Furthermore, on this occasion, Prime Minister Golob visited Robert Schuman's birthplace in Luxembourg-Clausen, a symbolic place steeped in history and today a research centre on the European integration process. The Schuman House served as the setting for a meeting of the Prime Minister with Slovenian judges from the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU).