France-Luxembourg Celebrate Close Ties at Bastille Day Reception

On the evening of Monday 14 July 2025, the French Ambassador to Luxembourg, Claire Lignières-Counathe, hosted a Bastille Day reception at Lycée Vauban in Luxembourg-Gasperich.

The reception, which celebrated France's national day (Fête Nationale), was organised with the support of the Grand Est region, the Chambre Française de Commerce et d'Industrie, the Conseillers du Commerce Extérieur,  the Association Victor Hugo, CA Indosuez Wealth and Orange Luxembourg. 

Guests included politicians, Luxembourg-based ambassadors and fellow diplomats, individuals with links to the French military and other members of (or people with links to) the Grand Duchy's sizeable French community.

In her speech, Ambassador Lignières-Counathe welcomed guests and thanked guest speaker President of the Grand Est region, Franck Leroy, for his attendance. She talked of the relationship between France and Luxembourg ,the departments and communes along the France/Luxembourg border and the 126,000 French residents who cross the border each day to work in Luxembourg.

The Ambassador said: “Trans-French cooperation, Franco-Luxembourgeois, has progressed since we adopted the principle of co-development, co-financing […] thanks to this we have very concrete advances.” She highlighted cooperation in the areas of transport, health, social protection and security and said: “The relations that we maintain between neighbouring countries, friends, founders of the European Union, they are really precious.”

The Ambassador then spoke of the current major issues across the European Union (EU), such as domestic security, defence spending, immigration and the conflict in Ukraine and of the importance of a “sovereign Europe” which is “more than ever necessary for the balance of the planet”. 

Ambassador Lignières-Counathe also revealed that, in the spirit of cooperation, soldiers from Luxembourg and Belgium marched that morning on the Champs-Elysées to mark the occasion of Bastille Day. She also announced that an additional celebration of the relationship between France and Luxembourg would take place at Lycée Vauban on Saturday 11 October 2025.

In closing, she said: “I really enjoyed working alongside you all here, strengthening the relations between our two countries and also discovering this country, which is so close and perhaps too unknown to the French. It is rich in its diversity, rich in its history, rich in its landscapes, rich in its rivalry and which is attached, like us, to the building of Europe.”

President of the Grand Est region, Franck Leroy, then spoke of the day representing “an opportunity to celebrate, not only the Republic, but also the values that make our life together” and the “strong, sincere and dynamic relationship between Luxembourg and the Grand Est region”.

Mr Leroy noted how vital the Schengen Agreement was for both communities and that the Grand Est region is committed to the transport projects between the region and Luxembourg. He also celebrated the shared values of the Grand Est region and Luxembourg and the of importance these within the context of the EU. He stated: “We share this European identity, this identity that does not derive from an abstract discourse. It is lived, shared, transmitted. It is embodied in our universities, in our common cultural projects and in the person of Robert Schumann, born in Luxembourg and whose life is closely linked to the Grand-Est. In a fractured world, where the temptation to retreat threatens, we must strongly defend European values.”

A choir from the Conservatoire de Luxembourg then performed the national anthems of Luxembourg ("Ons Heemecht") and France ("La Marseillaise"), as well as the "Anthem of Europe". 

Guests then continued to network and celebrate France's national day over a variety of food and drinks from the Grand Est Region.