At the invitation of the West Deutscher Rundfunk (WDR), Jean Asselborn was in Berlin on Thursday 12 May 2016 to participate in the 2016 edition of "WDR Europaforum" held under the theme "Europe - without Europeans? The EU in Crisis Mode. Europe is Changing".
The Luxembourg Minister of Foreign and European Affairs engaged in a debate with his Slovakian counterpart, Miroslav Lajčák, concerning the future of the European Union as part of the topic "Europe in Crisis Mode - Europe after the Crisis" led by director of Germany's leading public channel ARD, Rolf-Dieter Krause.
Minister Asselborn also participated, at the invitation of the Representation of Rhineland-Palatinate to the Federal Government and the EU, in a round table regarding "Europe: Area of Freedom(s) - Why We Need Schengen".
Finally, the Minister used his visit to Berlin to attend the reopening of the House of Europe in Berlin, in the presence of German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, President of the European Parliament, Martin Schulz and President of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker.
In an interview that day with euronews, Martin Schulz claimed that the EU is "in a dismal state", adding that "those who claim that we should bring down Europe and re-nationalise are playing with the security and the future of an entire generation". Speaking on the idea of a possible Brexit, the President of the European Parliament stated "we need Britain", highlighting it as Europe's second economy and a member of the G7.
Photo by MAEE
