The embassy hosted the annual reception at its residence garden, with treats including hamburgers and hot dogs but also Luxembourg beer and cider and a Harley Davidson motorbike awaiting invitees.
Ambassador shared that he had once worked on a Harley Davidson assembly line and had even crashed one of the motorbikes. The model on display at the embassy was for photo opportunities only. “Please behave yourselves because there are a lot of police officers here,” he joked.
The reception was hosted to mark 247 years of US independence, a country “founded on an idea, not an ethnicity, not on geography, not on religion,” said Barrett. This idea of freedom “is as relevant, if not more relevant, today,” he said. “Right now in Europe, we are facing the most serious war we have seen since the 1940s.”
Luxembourg and the US this year mark 120 years of diplomatic relations and the ambassador praised Luxembourg’s commitment to helping Ukraine. He said the US, Europe and their allies had “demonstrated the strength of our unity.”
The grand duchy, he said, embraces the same ideals as the US. “You have a wonderful, wonderful country here.”