Canadian Defence Minister Expresses ‘Deep Gratitude’ For Relationship With Luxembourg

On the afternoon of Friday 19 June 2026, Luxembourg Minister of Defence, Yuriko Backes, held a press conference with her Canadian counterpart, Minister of Defence for Canada, David J. McGuinty, at the Hôtel Saint Augustin in Luxembourg-Ville.

The working visit of David J. McGuinty represents the first visit by a member of the Canadian federal government to Luxembourg in 81 years of diplomatic relations. 

Ahead of the press conference, the Minister of Defence for Canada was received with military honours at Bourglinster Castle by Minister Backes before attending a meeting with representatives of the Chamber of Deputies.

Minister Backes noted the “historic moment” of David J. McGuinty’s visit to the Grand Duchy, particularly after the establishment of a Luxembourg Embassy in Ottawa, which was officially inaugurated in 2025. The minister noted Canada as a “reliable NATO ally, even more so in these geopolitical, very unstable times” and a country which shares values as a member of NATO, as well as being “profound believers in multilateralism”.

Referencing the recent NATO defence ministers' meeting in Brussels, Minister Backes mentioned the increase in both countries’ defence spending, the modernisation of Luxembourg’s armed forces and discussions in parliament regarding an increase of pay for members of Luxembourg’s armed forces.

Minister Backes also highlighted Canada’s position as the first non-European country to participate in the European SAFE programme - a European Union financial instrument created in 2025 to help EU member states increase defence spending through joint procurement and investment in Europe's defence industry - as well as its involvement in PERLE (Programme européen de l'industrie de défense).

Moreover, Minister Backes remarked on the ongoing conflict in Ukraine. She said: “Both of our countries supported and are continuing to support [Ukraine]. I think it is extremely important to continue to support…its defence against the unacceptable war that Russia is continuing.”

In closing, Minister Backes thanked David J. McGuinty for his visit to Luxembourg and expressed “my deep gratitude for being such a fantastic ally, friend, and for being with us here today”.

On the subject of his historic visit to the Grand Duchy, David J. McGuinty said: “It is a great honour to be here for Canada.” He added: “[We are] strong allies…we have so much more growth to achieve between the two countries…It is a difficult time in the world and we are looking for like-minded, small, mid-sized, medium-sized countries like ours to work with. Luxembourg has a stellar reputation, one that is represented by leadership that means what it says and says what it means. That is an important element in today's world, one that is predicated on trust. And so we are very pleased to be here and be able to dig down deeper and wider on our relationship with Luxembourg.”

The Minister of Defence for Canada spoke of the progress in achieving gender equality in Canada’s political representation, a subject echoed by Minister Backes, who highlighted her position as one of five female defence ministers in NATO, and Canada’s place as the only country in NATO with a female head of the armed forces.

Minister McGuinty emphasised that Canada is moving into the region in the sense of building closer and more dynamic bilateral relationships, and stated Canada’s pleasure to be the only non-European Union nation to have been accepted into the SAFE agreement, noting it as “a very big breakthrough”.

In response to a question from Chronicle.lu on Canada’s current relationship with the United States and developing deeper relationships with other sovereign nations, Minister McGuinty replied: “We are managing our relationship with many sovereign countries. We happen to have a relationship of maybe a different magnitude or kind with the United States. But we have made a decision, the Prime Minister has been very clear, that we are going to diversify, we are going to expand, we are going to branch out.”

He added: “We are going to continue to have a very strong relationship with our southern neighbour, but that we will expand, particularly when it comes to defence, for example, procurement, or the production of military material. We are looking to work with like-minded countries, people who share the same values, people who, as I said in meetings earlier, mean what they say and say what they mean. That is important for Canada.”

Caption: David J. McGuinty, Minister of Defence for Canada

Credit: Ali Sahib, Chronicle.lu