RTL Today - Grand Ducal visit: Military cooperation is main focus on final day of state visit to Belgium

On the third and last day of the Grand Ducal couple's state visit to Belgium, the focus was on the cooperative relationship between Luxembourgish and Belgian armed forces.

Grand Duke Henri and Belgium's King Philippe visited the air base at Melsbroek on Thursday morning, where they were shown around one of the Belgian A400M aircraft, as the Luxembourgish counterpart was undergoing maintenance.

Somewhat surprising was the sight of a Luxembourg police helicopter in the hangar. "It's part of the whole,"declared defence minister Yuriko Backes to assembled members of the press. The helicopter is part of the defence budget and was shown to the royal visitors on Thursday, although Backes added that it was possible the Belgians would be interested in purchasing that type of helicopter.

The photos published on this site are subject to copyright and may not be copied, modified, or sold without the prior permission of the owner of the site in question.

Among the assembled soldiers at a bomb disposal demonstration were several members of the armed forces wearing the Luxembourgish flag on their uniforms. "This is part of an ongoing collaboration, as our bomb disposal technicians continue to receive training here," Backes explained. Following the deadly incident in Waldhaff back in 2019, it was clear that Luxembourg needed to continue investing in infrastructure.
Following the visit to the air base was a relatively smooth ride to Liège, where the visit included a university seminar on the subject "Security and Defence: challenges in and from space." The day's schedule also allowed for a visit to the city's Prince-Bishops Palace.

By 2.30pm, the public, the military and a band were prepared for the departure ceremony. However, the royals took their time, leading to a delayed start, but spent some minutes speaking to members of the public after the ceremony. At 3.30pm, the Grand Ducal couple said their goodbyes, and embarked on the car journey back to Luxembourg.