(L-R) Klaudia Tanner, Austrian Minister of Defence; Yuriko Backes, Luxembourg's Minister of Defence;
Credit: © SIP / Kary Barthelmey
On Monday 13 July 2026, Luxembourg's Minister of Defence, Yuriko Backes, received Austria's Minister of Defence, Klaudia Tanner, in Luxembourg for a working visit.
Minister Tanner was welcomed at Bourglinster Castle by a guard of honour from the Luxembourg Army.
According to Luxembourg's Directorate of Defence, bilateral discussions between Ministers Backes and Tanner focused on bilateral cooperation, as well as the general security and defence policy situation, particularly in light of Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine and the conflict in the Near and Middle East.
Building on the trust already established between the two countries, the ministers signed a letter of intent formalising their shared commitment to explore closer cooperation in cyber defence, space, security and defence policy, military education and training, military medical services and healthcare, international peacekeeping operations, and environmental issues and pollution caused by military activities.
The working visit also focused on the development of space capabilities and strengthening cooperation in this strategic field. Minister Backes highlighted the planned commissioning of the LUXEOSys Earth observation satellite later this autumn, as well as the planned launch of the GovSat-2 communications satellite in 2029.
These discussions continued during a joint visit to SES and LuxGovSat in Betzdorf. LuxGovSat is the public-private partnership and equal joint venture between SES and the Luxembourg government.
At a press conference following the bilateral talks and the visit to SES, Minister Backes stressed the importance of cooperation between democratic European countries sharing the same values in the field of defence: "In the current context, close and trust-based dialogue between countries that defend the international order and a values-based defence policy is particularly important. I am pleased that today we have further strengthened the friendship and cooperation between our two countries."
Minister Tanner, for her part, announced Austria's intention to acquire communications capabilities on the future GovSat-2 satellite.
