Luxembourg’s foreign ministry said in a 23 July press release:
“This text aims to establish regular structured consultations between the two parties at political and administrative level with the aim of developing and deepening their cooperation at bilateral, European and multilateral level.”
The ministry said that during the meeting in Rome on Tuesday:
“The two ministers expressed concern over the fighting around Tripoli, which also has a direct impact on migratory flows in the central Mediterranean. In this context, the ministers were unanimous in recognising that there is no alternative to the creation of adequate capacity for the reception of migrants, under the responsibility of the United Nations.”
Jean Asselborn, Luxembourg’s foreign minister (LSAP), called the recent shelling of the Tajoura detention centre in Tripoli, Libya, “unacceptable.”
FM Jean #Asselborn welcomed by his colleague Enzo #Moavero Milanesi in Rome today to strengthen bilateral relations & discuss issues of common interest with a particular focus on #EU cooperation pic.twitter.com/EldmrVo6bE
— MFA Luxembourg (@MFA_Lu) July 23, 2019
On Monday, 14 EU member states, including Luxembourg, agreed to resettle asylum seekers within the bloc. Asselborn described cross-Mediterranean migration has a “death crisis”. Italy did not attend the meeting, as reported by the AFP, Deutsche Welle and EUobserver.
About 22,500 Italian nationals live in the grand duchy.