Luxembourg To ‘Continue To Invest, Strengthen’, Says Defence Minister Backes

On Tuesday 9 June 2026, Luxembourg’s Minister of Defence, Yuriko Backes, welcomed her Lithuanian counterpart, Minister of National Defence Robertas Kaunas, to Luxembourg for a working visit.

According to Luxembourg’s Directorate of Defence, the two ministers held a bilateral working meeting, following a welcome ceremony with military honours and the playing of the national anthems at Bourglinster Castle.

In preparation for the NATO Defence Ministers’ meeting in mid-June and the NATO Summit to be held in Ankara in July 2026, discussions focused in particular on the Alliance’s political priorities and its deterrence and defence posture on the eastern flank.

The directorate noted that seven Luxembourg service personnel are currently serving within NATO’s multinational Forward Land Forces brigade in Lithuania under German command. Since 2017, a team of Luxembourg military personnel responsible for transporting equipment has been integrated into a multinational logistics company. The Luxembourg Armed Forces also contribute a satellite communications capability, known as “Reachback”, to the battlegroup in Lithuania, enabling communication between the operational theatre and headquarters.

The Ministers of Defence also exchanged views on the international situation, European security challenges, European defence policy priorities and continued unwavering support for Ukraine. Minister Backes and Minister Kaunas reaffirmed their support for European Union instruments aimed at strengthening Europe’s defence preparedness and for the further Europeanisation of NATO.

"We must continue to invest and strengthen our capacity to act. The European pillar of the Alliance must assume a greater share of the burden," emphasised Minister Backes.

The visit also provided an opportunity to discuss the further development of bilateral cooperation in the fields of defence and security. Through the signing of a letter of intent, the two ministers formalised their commitment to expanding existing defence relations in the space sector, particularly with regard to secure satellite communications and Earth observation capabilities.

The letter of intent provides for the Luxembourg Defence authorities to make secure satellite communication capabilities available to the Lithuanian Defence authorities through LuxGovSat, as well as the possibility of cooperation in the field of Earth observation through LUXEOSys once the system becomes fully operational.

Discussions on cooperation in the space sector were further explored during a visit to the headquarters of SES and LuxGovSat in Betzdorf.

In the afternoon, at the Chamber of Deputies, Ministers of Defence Kaunas and Backes met with members of the Committee on Defence, the Committee on Foreign and European Affairs, Cooperation, Foreign Trade and the Greater Region, as well as members of the Luxembourg delegation to the NATO Parliamentary Assembly.