On April 22nd and 23rd, the Chair of the NATO Military Committee, Admiral Rob Bauer was in Luxembourg for an official visit, at the invitation of the Chief of Defence of Luxembourg, General Steve Thull. During the visit, the Chair met with the Prime Minister of Luxembourg, Luc Frieden, the Minister of Defence, Yuriko Backes, and members of the Defence and Foreign Affairs Committees of the Parliament.
Starting off his official visit in Luxembourg city, the Chair of the Military Committee, Admiral Bauer was welcomed with military honours by General Steve Thull. The welcome was followed by a trilateral meeting with General Thull and the Minister of Defence, Yuriko Backes where the global security environment was discussed, with a special focus on support to Ukraine and Luxembourg's contribution to NATO. "Luxembourg was a founding member of NATO 75 years ago, and it has continuously showed commitment to collective defence and the trans-Atlantic bond. It is at the forefront of NATO's innovation agenda. And it has shown strong solidarity in its support of Ukraine." said Admiral Bauer.
In his meeting with Prime Minister Luc Frieden at the Ministry of State, Admiral Bauer discussed defence planning and the upcoming NATO summit in Washington DC, as well as the continued support to Ukraine. "Investing in our defence is essential in this security environment. Several Allies made commitments to increase their defence spending and spend 2% or more of GDP on defence. We are moving in the right direction, but we all need to do more."
Afterwards, the Chair of the Military Committee met with members of the Defence and Foreign Affairs of the Parliament of Luxembourg. Here, the discussions focused on creating a whole-of-society approach to deterrence and defence.
The visit concluded with a presentation at the Société Européenne des Satellites (SES), global leader in satellite-based content connectivity. Admiral Bauer was briefed on GovSat, a public private partnership between the Government of Luxembourg and SES. This provides secure and reliable governmental satellite communication services to 11 Allies and to NATO as an organisation.
Luxembourg plays a leading role in NATO's space agenda. It is one of eighteen Allies partaking in a virtual network of national and commercial satellites.
