Luxembourg parliament president: Russia's war in Ukraine has completely changed our security thinking

Claude Wiseler, president of the Luxembourg parliament, said this in a comment to an Ukrinform correspondent.

"I think that at the beginning of the war we were too slow. That's obvious if you look at where we are now, and remember the discussions we had four years ago. The mindset has changed first and foremost. I remember that four or five years ago I proposed having a defense budget of at least 1%. People thought I was crazy and said I was simply calling for war," Wiseler said.

According to him, the war in Ukraine has completely changed the situation. Today, Luxembourg's population fully supports defense investments. The country has already increased its military budget from 0.6% of GDP to 2% this year, with the goal of reaching 3.5% within a few years.

"We had two major stages of mindset change. First, when we welcomed thousands of Ukrainian war refugees – their testimonies brought the war closer to us. But it changed even more when Russian planes and drones began entering European airspace. It stopped being just a war on the edge of the European Union," Wiseler said.

Luxembourg, small "in military terms," is now focusing on cooperation with neighboring countries.

"Our army, to be effective, must work with the militaries of neighboring countries – either Belgium or France. We cooperate less with Germany for now, although we are considering joint air defense. For example, we are now establishing a Belgian-Luxembourg battalion. It is expected to be ready by 2028, with French equipment already ordered to ensure full interoperability. We need to integrate and create joint strategies," Wiseler said.

He also noted that there is now full consensus in Luxembourg on the need for long-term support for Ukraine.

"It's a pity it took us so long, but we are where we are now, and at the same time we fully understand that support for Ukraine must continue as long and as strongly as possible," he added.

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