At the invitation of President of the United States Barack Obama and on the sidelines of the 70th General Assembly of the United Nations on 29 September 2015, Luxembourg Prime Minister Xavier Bettel yesterday participated in the Leaders' Summit on Countering ISIL and Violent Extremism.
Barack Obama said of the summit, which convened representatives of over 100 nations to discuss and promote cooperation in the fight against terrorism, "I believe what we have here today is the emergence of a global movement that is united by the mission of degrading and ultimately destroying ISIL".
The US President then said of the anti-terrorist fight: "This is not a conventional battle. This is a long-term campaign - not only against this particular network, but against its ideology".
The Luxembourg Prime Minister commended the efforts and initiatives against terrorism and radicalisation demonstrated at the Summit, emphasising the need to counter the rise of violent extremism and the exploitation of vulnerable young people.
"It is indispensable, in my eyes, to invest in youth development," said Prime Minister Bettel. "We must give young people the opportunity to express their potential by promoting their full participation in society. It is in this spirit that our development cooperation policy retains an important place in education and professional training".
Whilst in New York, Xavier Bettel also attended the UN Sustainable Development Summit, where 17 sustainable development goals were adopted, participated in the general debate of the 70th UN General Assembly and conducted bilateral meetings with several Heads of State and Government.
"We need a plan of actions and global solidarity in facing the enormous challenges in the fight against climate change," declared the Prime Minister following the General Assembly, characterised by issues of sustainable development and the fight against climate change. "The international community has committed itself in an exceptional way and I am confident that this commitment will be reaffirmed at the 2015 climate conference in Paris".
Xavier Bettel also engaged in meetings with his Tunisian and Icelandic counterparts, as well as President of Senegal, Macky Sall, Vice-President of the Republic of Indonesia, Jusuf Kalla and President of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Nousoultan Nazarbaïev.
In addition, Prime Minister Bettel met with Leila Zerrougui, Assistant Secretary-General and Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict, in order to gauge the progress of initiatives and projects of the Security working group of Children and Armed Conflict, which was chaired by Luxembourg from 1 January 2013 until 31 December 2014.
Photo: Xavier Bettel Twitter (L-R: US First Lady Michelle Obama; Prime Minister of Luxembourg, Xavier Bettel; US President, Barack Obama)
