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Xavier Bettel at the informal meeting of the Foreign Affairs Council (FAC) in its development configuration
On 10 and 11 February 2025, the Minister for Cooperation and Humanitarian Affairs, Xavier Bettel, travelled to Warsaw to attend the informal meeting of the Foreign Affairs Council (FAC) in its development configuration.
The meeting's agenda included discussions on the Global Gateway and strengthening the resilience of partner countries. During the session on strengthening the resilience of partner countries, discussions focused on how populations in partner countries can be better prepared to withstand disasters, whether natural or man-made. In addition, ministers discussed the best strategies to support partners after such a crisis. Three states, namely Ukraine, Mauritania and Syria, were chosen as examples to guide the discussions.
In his speech, Minister Bettel returned to the importance of the cooperation policy and the maintenance of its budgets, he stressed that investments in defence must not be made to the detriment of the cooperation policy, affirming that "investment in individuals is the best prevention of conflicts."
The head of Luxembourg's diplomacy also stressed the need for greater involvement of small and medium-sized enterprises in the countries where the projects are implemented.
Regarding European values, Xavier Bettel recalled that the EU must not renounce them, but on the contrary defend them. He stressed that Luxembourg asks its partners not to backtrack on fundamental values, while raising the possibility of better coordination between Member States in the event of negative developments in partner countries.
Press release by the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs, Defence, Cooperation and Foreign Trade