John Kerry, the Secretary of State of the USA, arrived in Luxembourg on Saturday morning for a two-day visit to the Grand Duchy.
Hosted by Jean Asselborn, Luxembourg's Minister of Foreign and European Affairs, John Kerry's visit attracted much attention in the capital city. The Luxembourg City Tourist Office (LCTO) week-end events of the World MeYouZik Festival on Saturday, as well as the Rock um Knuedler Festival on Sunday, needed last-minute changes to their venues to accommodate the politician's visit, with many, many people turning out to see him.
Saturday's events included a formal welcome by Minister Asselborn and a press conference held by John Kerry, in which he referred to the Bastille Day attack in Nice which saw 84 people die and hundreds more wounded. Together with other dignataries including Luxembourg's Minister of Finance, Pierre Gramegna, the Mayor Luxembourg city, Lydie Polfer, the French Ambassador to Luxembourg and Luxembourg's Minister for Justice, Félix Braz, he lais a wreath at the Memorial on the Place de la Constitution in Luxembourg city centre and respected a one-minute silence in respect fo the victims.
He took part in a formal working meeting in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs before travelling to Steinfort, where Minister Asselborn lives, and enjoyed a cycle ride in the countryside in the company of Minister Asselborn, himself a keen dyclist, as well as Andy Schleck, Luxembourg's most-recent winner of the Tour de France.
His visit continues today, Sunday, with Luxembourg's Prime Minister Xavier Better who returns from the ASEM Summit in Mongolia.
Photo (above) by Charles Caratini © SIP; Photo (below) by Jean-Christophe Verhaegen, © 2016 SIP, all rights reserved
