Luxembourg Honours French Armed Forces Chief With Order of the Oak Crown

On Thursday 23 July 2026, Luxembourg's Ministry of State, Directorate of Defence and Army General Staff announced that Air Force General Fabien Mandon, Chief of the Defence Staff of the French Armed Forces, had been awarded the rank of Officer of the Order of the Oak Crown in recognition of his contribution to strengthening military cooperation between Luxembourg and France.

Luxembourg's Prime Minister Luc Frieden presented the distinction to General Mandon in the presence of Luxembourg's Minister of Defence Yuriko Backes and General Steve Thull, Chief of Staff of the Luxembourg Army.

According to the authorities, the French Armed Forces have provided key support in the development of the binational Luxembourg-French Guides-Chasseurs Battalion, particularly in the areas of doctrine, education and training. The authorities described the battalion as the Luxembourg Army's most ambitious capability project to date and said General Mandon played a decisive role in helping bring it to fruition.

During the ceremony, Minister Frieden underlined: "You have played a decisive role in the Coalition of the Willing for Ukraine and in support of a Belgian-Luxembourg battalion, which embodies the bold vision of a European defence. This initiative points the way towards a more integrated and more united European defence," praising General Mandon's contributions to bilateral military cooperation and European defence.

"This distinction recognises your exceptional merits as well as your decisive contribution to the development of the Franco-Luxembourg strategic partnership in the service of European defence," said Minister Backes.

The visit also included a bilateral meeting between General Mandon and General Thull, during which they discussed Franco-Luxembourg military cooperation and Luxembourg's contribution to NATO's collective defence.

Since 2023, the Luxembourg Army has contributed to NATO's deterrence and defence posture on the Alliance's south-eastern flank by deploying a reconnaissance platoon as part of the multinational NATO battlegroup stationed in Romania under the Forward Land Forces (FLF) mission. The permanent presence of the multinational battalion under French command, according to the ministry, demonstrates the Allies' commitment and ability to collectively defend the Alliance.

Ahead of the planned delivery of Jaguar armoured reconnaissance vehicles in 2028, a Luxembourg Army unit has been affiliated with France's second Armoured Brigade from 2026. The authorities said this cooperation will allow Luxembourg's armed forces to familiarise themselves with French procedures and tactics, strengthen interoperability between the two armies and prepare for future operational deployments, while ensuring the continued contribution to the FLF mission in Romania.