US ambassador to Luxembourg Randy Evans has been hosting his chiefs of mission from embassies around Europe for their annual September summit overt the past few days. On Wednesday the ambassadors gathered at Bourglinster château for a meeting hosted by three ministers representing the three coalition parties that form the Luxembourg government--deputy prime minister and minister for the armed forces François Bausch (Déi Gréng), finance minister Pierre Gramegna (DP) and economy minister Franz Fayot (LSAP).

Evans praised the ministers for being “advocates for the Luxembourg-United States relationship”. He singled out the ratification of the tax treaty protocol, growing cooperation in the space sector, including the launch of a Defense Working Group on Space, support for the US Air Force warehouse facility in Sanem and establishing a new public bus service to the Luxembourg American Cemetery as examples of the work done by the ministers.

Gramegna acknowledged the importance of the presence of US financial institutions in Luxembourg since the 1960s. “Luxembourg is today a trusted partner of the US, in particular for US banks, insurers, asset managers and FinTech companies aiming to serve the EU market,” he said.

Fayot cited the common bonds the two countries share. “Whether it is the terrifying experience of the Battle of the Bulge during the World War II, the many Americans of Luxembourg descent, our vital commercial partnership through the mainly industrial American companies located in Luxembourg, the sharing of common values or the nascent cooperation in the Space sector, all these elements give our friendship a solid foundation to ensure a bright future.”

In his role as armed forces minister, Bausch said that he believed defence was being increasingly called upon to cope with a wider spectrum of threats including the traditional military ones. “Terrorism up to a certain extent--this is why my country deploys troops to Mali in Africa--cyber security, environmental threats like climate change which will shape defence over the next decades and pandemics as we have just seen.”