(L-R) Piotr Serafin, European Commissioner for Budget, Anti-Fraud and Public Administration; Xavier Bettel, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister for Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, Minister for Development Cooperation and Humanitarian Affairs;
Credit: MAE
On Wednesday 14 October 2026, Luxembourg's Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs, Defence, Development Cooperation and Foreign Trade reported that Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade Xavier Bettel had taken part in the meeting of the EU General Affairs Council (GAC), held in Luxembourg on Tuesday 13 October 2026.
As part of preparations for the European Council meeting on Thursday 15 and Friday 16 October 2026, Minister Bettel addressed several major international and European issues, including the competitiveness of the European Union, Russia’s aggression against Ukraine and the situation in the Middle East.
He advocated for a strong, united and competitive European Union, equipped with the flexibility and responsiveness needed to deal effectively with crises and unpredictable situations.
During the policy debate on the next Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) 2028-2034, Minister Bettel called for an ambitious European budget capable of addressing the Union’s major challenges, particularly in the areas of innovation, competitiveness and crisis management, while taking into account national budgetary constraints. To this end, he stressed the need to provide the Union with adequate resources and appropriate staffing within the institutions. He also underlined the need to ensure sufficient funding to deal with crises, particularly in a context marked by current geopolitical uncertainties.
On the sidelines of the GAC, intergovernmental conferences with Albania, Moldova, Montenegro and Ukraine provided an opportunity to take stock of the progress made by each candidate country on its path towards accession to the European Union.
Minister Bettel stressed the importance of maintaining a merit-based accession process, in which each candidate country is assessed on the basis of its own progress and advances at its own pace. He also recalled that the progress made must be accompanied by strong guarantees regarding respect for the European Union’s fundamental values, the rule of law and democratic principles.
The ministry also reported that Minister Bettel held bilateral meetings with Greece’s Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Anastasios Chatzivasileiou, Moldova’s Deputy Prime Minister for European Integration Cristina Gherasimov and European Commissioner for Budget Piotr Serafin.
