The Diplomat
The ambassador of Luxembourg in Spain, Christian Biever, stressed during the celebration of the Luxembourg National Day that the two countries share fundamental values in the face of polarization.
In the speech he gave on Thursday at his residence on the occasion of Luxembourg’s National Day, Biever referred to the ties of friendship with Spain and also to those maintained by King Philip VI and Grand Duke Henri, who decided that his first visit official, after acceding to the throne, he went to our country. Spain.
The ambassador indicated that bilateral economic relations are excellent, as proof that, in 2023, the volume of trade in goods and services between Luxembourg and Spain was ten billion euros, “a not inconsiderable volume,” he said, “which places Spain as Luxembourg’s seventh export partner and its eleventh import partner.”
Furthermore, he highlighted that Spain is the favorite vacation destination for Luxembourgers, “because in addition to being practical,” he said, “we are intelligent people and we appreciate the wonders that Spain offers.” However, he said that there are also more and more Spaniards visiting Luxembourg and recalled that the route that Luxair carries out with Madrid is now thirty years old.
At the international level, Biever warned that the increasing weight of non-democratic powers in the world order and the rise of populist parties in democracies that we believed to be consolidated “makes us fear for the future of the European Union and our countries.” For this reason, he indicated that Luxembourg is pleased to have Spain as an ally, and added: “Our countries share fundamental values in an increasingly polarized world.”
The ambassador reiterated his country’s solidarity with the Ukrainian people, in the face of “unacceptable Russian aggression” and emphasized. “We must strongly condemn all forms of external aggression and interference and work for peace.”
On the other hand, he recalled that this year marks the centenary of the birth of one of Luxembourg’s most beloved artists, the painter Gust Graas, who he said was “a true cultural ambassador of Luxembourg and a lover of Spain” and who spent long periods in his studio in Pollença, in the Balearic Islands.
The evening was entertained by the duo “Triana and Luca” and was attended by numerous ambassadors, as well as Spanish diplomats, including the general director of Central Western Europe and Southeast Europe, Raquel Gómez-Cambronero.
