US pressure ‘wake-up call’ for Europe on security, says Luxembourg foreign minister

Luxembourg’s Foreign Minister Xavier Bettel said Europe must take greater responsibility for its own security following Russia’s war against Ukraine, describing recent pressure from the US as “a wake-up call.”

Speaking to Anadolu on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Ankara on Wednesday, Bettel said the deteriorating security environment has fundamentally changed Europe’s approach to defense spending.

“The unpredictability is so big, and the threat from Russia is a reality,” he said.

Bettel acknowledged that advocating for higher military spending would have seemed unimaginable earlier on in his political career.

“If someone had told me 27 years ago, when I started in parliament, that once I would defend more military expenses, I would have said, ‘You’re crazy,'” he said. “But you have to explain to people why it is useful.”

He said governments have a responsibility to explain why stronger defense capabilities are now necessary, arguing that deterrence is the best way to preserve peace.

Bettel noted that Luxembourg has increased its defense spending by more than 350% over the past decade, but stressed that additional investment should be accompanied by stronger European defense production.

“It is important to invest and to see how we can also have a common European industry in defense.”