El Salvador Foreign Minister Visits Luxembourg

The Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of El Salvador, Carlos Castaneda, made a working visit to Luxembourg on Wednesday 18 July 2018 as communicated by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

As part of his trip to the Grand Duchy, Minister Castaneda had interviews with Jean Asselborn, Minister of Foreign and European Affairs, and Romain Schneider, Minister for Cooperation and Humanitarian Action.

Minister Asselborn's discussions with his Salvadoran counterpart focused on regional news, reviewing bilateral ties and exploring opportunities to strengthen these ties. Having attended the second ministerial meeting between the European Union and the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC), in Brussels on 16 July, Minister Asselborn congratulated the Republic of El Salvador for the exemplary manner in which it conducted its Presidency of CELAC, despite difficult circumstances.

The head of Luxembourg diplomacy took the opportunity to discuss with Minister Castaneda the political situation in the Republic of El Salvador, particularly with a view on the presidential elections scheduled for March 2019, as well as the security challenges facing the country. Minister Asselborn encouraged the Salvadorian authorities to continue their efforts to promote respect for human rights, especially to combat violence against women.

During the meeting between Minister Romain Schneider and Minister Carlos Castaneda, both sides congratulated themselves on the 25 year of excellent relations that have existed between the two countries in the field of development cooperation. The activities of the Luxembourg Cooperation in this country date back to 1993 and considering the economic and social progress of El Salvador since the 1990s, a new model of cooperation has been established in recent years. From being a "partner country", El Salvador has become a "projects country" of the Luxembourg Cooperation.

During the discussion, the two ministers discussed development cooperation and the diversification of bilateral relations with El Salvador. Discussions also focused on regional aspects of cooperation in Central America.

Minister Schneider also confirmed his intention to double the Luxembourg contribution to the Salvadorian Civil Society ("Fondo Concursable") from €2 to €4 million . On the other hand, Minister Schneider reaffirmed Luxembourg's support for the South-South and triangular cooperation as well as Luxembourg's support to the social policy of the Government of El Salvador, through a contribution to the Common Fund for Programmatic Support (FOCAP).

"El Salvador is an important element of Luxembourg's cooperation and is an example of innovative cooperation in which the two partners work closely together to achieve the common goal of reducing poverty in the country" said Minister Schneider.

During his visit to Luxembourg, Minister Castaneda also attended the inauguration of the Honorary Consulate of El Salvador in the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg.