Off the wire
• Tanzanian gov't says its 8 citizens held in Malawi are not spies  • First gorilla born in zoo dies in sleep in U.S. state Ohio at 60  • Nigerian leader expresses regret over airstrike on refugee camp  • Spanish stock market falls 0.16 pct, closes at 9,394 points  • Nairobi bourse turnover rises on banks, telecom stocks  • Hezbollah says finding Israeli drone in southern Lebanon  • Estonian PM highlights research role for development  • France says meeting on Syria must gather "large" opposition  • Europe should seek own best deal in Brexit negotiations: expert  • France lowers 2016 budget gap to 68.9 bln euros  
You are here: 　 Home

Luxembourg's FM urges stronger support for EU

Xinhua, January 18, 2017 Adjust font size:

Member states must strengthen their resolve to defend the idea of the European Union (EU) because the future of Europe will not be decided in London or Washington, Luxembourg's Minister for Foreign and European Affairs Jean Asselborn said during his visit here on Tuesday.

The agenda of Asselborn's visit included meetings with Latvian Foreign Minister Edgars Rinkevics and Prime Minister Maris Kucinskis.

Asselborn believed that the future of the EU must not hinge on who becomes the next U.S. president or British prime minister.

Europe must go on. This is a peace project. And "we have to do everything we can, as Brexit is not the only challenge," said the visiting minister. Such challenges also exist within the bloc, Asselborn added.

The foreign ministers of Luxembourg and Latvia agreed on the importance of NATO for European and transatlantic security, dismissing U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's remarks about the alliance as an obsolete organization.

"I do not believe that it is in the U.S.'s interests to weaken NATO," Asselborn said.

During the meeting with Luxembourg's minister, Kucinskis underlined the importance of boosting allied presence in the Baltic states and Poland.

Speaking of Latvia's bilateral relations with Luxembourg, Kucinskis noted an untapped potential for economic exchange.

The Latvian prime minister believed the two countries should step up cooperation on information and communication technologies as both of them consider themselves to be strong in this field. Endit