(L-R) Maxime Prévot, Belgium's Deputy Prime Minister; Andriy Sadovy, Mayor of Lviv; Xavier Bettel, Luxembourg's Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Foreign and European Affairs;
Credit: MAE
On Friday 9 May 2025, Luxembourg's Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign and European Affairs, Xavier Bettel, travelled to Lviv, Ukraine, to mark Europe Day alongside European Foreign Ministers and in the presence of the Ukrainian Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs.
Luxembourg's Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs, Defence, Development Cooperation and Foreign Trade reported that the ministers met in Lviv "to send a strong message of European unity and solidarity in the face of Russian aggression against Ukraine". This visit reportedly "demonstrates the EU's concrete commitment to the values of freedom, democracy and peace".
The ministry added: "As Russian President Vladimir Putin's regime attempts to legitimise its brutal invasion through militarised commemorations, Europe chooses to stand alongside Ukraine, which fights every day with courage and resilience for its independence, sovereignty, territorial integrity and a common European future".
Minister Bettel stated: "While Moscow seeks to justify its war in the name of World War II commemorations, we stand here, alongside our Ukrainian friends, to defend a European future based on freedom, peace and unity."
Furthermore, the European ministers, joined by representatives from Japan, Australia and Canada, discussed with their Ukrainian colleagues progress toward the establishment, under the auspices of the Council of Europe, of the Special Tribunal for the Crime of Aggression against Ukraine, which "represents an important element in holding Russia accountable for its aggression against Ukraine".
