Speaking on the future of Europe in the European Parliament in Strasbourg on Wednesday, Xavier Bettel gave an emphatic pro-Europe speech in which he said that the European Union provided “added value to European citizens in countless instances, improving their daily lives.”

“It is therefore not a coincidence, in my view, that so many UK citizens living in my country have been applying for Luxembourg citizenship, since the Brexit referendum. Many others have apparently been doing the same in other member states,” he said in English.

But he said that Britain took the advantages gained from EU membership for granted when they voted in favour of leaving the EU in the 2016 referendum.

Solidarity

Bettel also spoke about the need to strengthen EU action as recent events such as the war in Syria and refugee movements had marked a turning point. He called for nations to stand together in solidarity “and not try to introduce concepts like flexible solidarity, which at the end of the day will result in a reciprocal lack of solidarity.”

He closed by saying that the world is changing and the EU was the “best guarantee for ensuring collective sovereignty and the progress of our citizens.”