At the invitation of the Turkish Minister of Foreign Affairs, Hakan Fidan, the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade and Minister for Development Cooperation and Humanitarian Affairs, Xavier Bettel, attended the Antalya Diplomatic Forum, which took place from 1 to 3 March in Antalya, Turkey.
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(fr. l. to r.) Xavier Bettel, Minister for Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade and Minister for Cooperation and Humanitarian Affairs; Jeyhun Aziz oglu Bayramo, Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Azerbaijan
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(fr. l. to r.) Xavier Bettel, Minister for Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade and Minister for Cooperation and Humanitarian Affairs; Elmedin Konakovic, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Bosnia-Herzegovina.
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(fr. l. to r.) Xavier Bettel, Minister for Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade and Minister for Cooperation and Humanitarian Affairs; Igli Hasani, Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs, Republic of Albania; Angelina Eichhorst, Executive Director of the European External Action Service of the EU; Kolinda Rabar-Kitarovic, former President of Croatia; Ana Palacio, former Minister for Foreign Affairs of Spain.
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(fr. l. to r.) Abdallah Bou Habib, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Emigrants of the Republic of Lebanon; Xavier Bettel, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade and Minister for Cooperation and Humanitarian Affairs
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(fr. l. to r.) Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu, former Turkish Minister for Foreign Affairs; Burak Akçapar, Deputy Minister; Xavier Bettel, Minister for Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade and Minister for Cooperation and Humanitarian Affairs
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(fr. l. to r.) Ivica Dacic, Serbian Minister for Foreign Affairs; Xavier Bettel, Minister for Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade and Minister for Development Cooperation and Humanitarian Affairs
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(fr. l. to r.) Xavier Bettel, Minister for Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade and Minister for Cooperation and Humanitarian Affairs; Mihail Popșoi, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Moldova.
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(fr. l. to r.) Xavier Bettel, Minister for Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade and Minister for Cooperation and Humanitarian Affairs; Luigi Di Maio, Special Representative for the Gulf Region, European Union
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(fr. l. to r.) Xavier Bettel, Minister for Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade and Minister for Cooperation and Humanitarian Affairs; Miguel Ángel Moratinos Cuyaubé, High Representative of the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations.
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(fr. l. to r.) Xavier Bettel, Minister for Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade and Minister for Cooperation and Humanitarian Affairs; Hakan Fridan, Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Turkey.
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(fr. l. to r.) Carl Skau, Deputy Executive Director, Coo, World Food Programme; Xavier Bettel, Minister for Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade and Minister for Cooperation and Humanitarian Affairs
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(fr. l. to r.) Jens Plötner, Foreign and Security Policy Adviser to the Federal Chancellor, Germany; Xavier Bettel, Minister for Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade and Minister for Development Cooperation and Humanitarian Affairs; Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu, former Minister for Foreign Affairs, Turkey
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(fr. l. to r.) Xavier Bettel, Minister for Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade and Minister for Cooperation and Humanitarian Affairs; Elmedin Konakovic, Minister for Foreign Affairs, Bosnia-Herzegovina; Péter Szijjártó, Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Hungary.
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(fr. l. to r.) Xavier Bettel, Minister for Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade and Minister for Cooperation and Humanitarian Affairs; Vjosa Osmani-Sadriu, President, Republic of Kosovo
The Forum, themed "Advancing Diplomacy in Times of Turmoil", is a high-level event that brings together heads of State and Government, Foreign Ministers, representatives of international institutions, academics and business representatives to debate the main regional and international issues.
In this context, Minister Bettel took part in a panel discussion on "The European Union's capacity to shape global transitions", together with Igli Hasani, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Albania, Angelina Eichhorst, Executive Director of the European External Action Service of the EU, Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović, former President of Croatia, and Ana Palacio, former Minister for Foreign Affairs of Spain.
During the panel, Minister Bettel recalled that the COVID-19 pandemic and the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine have shown that the European Union - when united - can act quickly and decisively. It is therefore vital that the EU Member States stand united, while remaining true to the fundamental values of the European Union. "Given the history of the European continent, Luxembourg will always be resolutely committed to peace, both within the EU and internationally," said Luxembourg's head of diplomacy, underlining the importance of working together to find common solutions to global problems.
Minister Bettel held a number of bilateral meetings, notably with his Turkish counterpart Hakan Fidan and the Foreign Ministers of Azerbaijan, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Lebanon and Moldova, while attending this diplomatic forum. The Minister also met the EU Special Representative for the Gulf, Luigi Di Maio, and the Deputy Executive Director and Head of Operations of the World Food Programme, Carl Skau.
These meetings provided an opportunity to exchange views on the latest international developments, including the situation in Ukraine and Gaza, and to strengthen Luxembourg's relations with the countries concerned. In this context, Minister Bettel expressed his deep concern about the latest tragedy in Gaza, when Israeli soldiers opened fire on residents gathered around a food aid convoy, and stressed the importance of an independent investigation to shed full light on this incident. "This tragedy shows us once again the absolute necessity of an immediate ceasefire, the unimpeded delivery of humanitarian aid to the civilian population in Gaza and the release of all remaining hostages," stressed Minister Bettel.
Press release by the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs, Defence, Development Cooperation and Foreign Trade