Appearing on France 24's English programme "Talking Europe," Bettel expressed regret over the ease with which countries decided to disregard the EU cornerstone of free movement.
Noting that Luxembourg is "surrounded by borders," Bettel said that we were in effect "locked down in our own country." The Prime Minister was clear that he was not annoyed by the decision, taken by all of our neighbouring countries, but made it clear that he thought it was "the wrong answer, to say that we close borders is a psychological answer that you give to a person to tell them 'now we have blocked the borders, and with the barrier we are going to stop the virus.' Which is a stupid answer, because the virus, a border never stopped the virus."
Bettel expressed the opinion that closing borders was a mistake, and noted that the most important aspect of this situation was the unfortunate speed with which member states overruled the Schengen agreement. Later in the episode this sentiment was also echoed by Spanish MEP Juan Fernando Lopez Aguilar, who said it of the essence "that people have the confidence that we have a horizon in which free movement will be restored."
