Several protests and ceremonies took place across the border between Luxembourg and Germany, with protestors demanding that borders be reopened immediately. Some of these events were organised and attended by official representatives of both sides. In Grevenmacher, the European flag was raised again after it had been at half-mast for the past week.
In Echternach, about a hundred people are said to have gathered on the Luxembourgish side of the border. Upon enquiry by RTL, the police stated that they had sent a patrol on site in order to make sure that people keep the mandatory distance to each other.
Europe Day is celebrated by the European Union on 9 May. It goes back to Robert Schuman’s declaration which proposed the pooling of French and West German coal and steel industries. The French Minister of Foreign Affairs laid the foundations for what would become the European Union with his paper 70 years ago today. Since last year, Europe Day is an official bank holiday in Luxembourg.
The European ideal has certainly suffered in the past months. Europhiles lament that member states have mostly been acting in their own interest during the virus crisis and that borders have been closed even inside of the Schengen Area.
In a speech held on Saturday, Prime Minister Xavier Bettel stressed that the crisis has shown both the advantages and the shortcomings of the European Union. He for instance criticized that the first reflex of some countries had been to close the borders. “We see that we have a common problem. And we see that we can only solve it together,” he said.
