On Tuesday, minister of foreign affairs Jean Asselborn criticised anew the closing of borders when meeting his fellow colleagues from Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Lichtenstein via video conference.
In a discussion with Germany's foreign minister Heiko Maas, Asselborn underlined again that the virus was spreading from person to person, not from country to country. Closed borders would in no way be any obstacle for Covid-19.
"I also told him that these measures would not paint a very good picture on the 25th anniversary of the Schengen agreement, with German police patrolling the bridge to that very Luxembourgish community. I moreover emphasised that the measures could not go on for too long if we wanted to preserver the European ideas and values built in Schengen", explains Asselborn.
The minister used the meeting on Tuesday to insist that Luxembourgish students should be granted an unobstructed trip back to their university homes abroad.
"Many of our students came back after the institutions closed. I made an appeal to minister Maas to pass on the message to Berlin that our students should not be held back at border crossings to Austria or Switzerland. If they are able to present student identification and prove they reside in the country, they should be let through right away."
Luxembourg made use of the opportunity on Tuesday to also thank its neighbour for all help the Grand-Duchy had received from Berlin to safely return its citizens during the beginning of the outbreak.
Another point of discussion was migration. After Luxembourg and Germany had taken in refugees staying on Greek islands, Switzerland announced it would join the initiative, a move applauded by Asselborn:
"Switzerland has done more in the migration crisis than some actual members of the European Union, which also speak the German language. Our colleagues from Austria made clear that politically they would not support the movement of migrants and would rather send containers to Greece. I told them that this was not the right message and far from what Greece expected - and especially far from what these people deserve, a change for a life with human dignity."
Heiko Maas also informed his colleagues on Tuesday about the ongoing preparations for the residency of the European Union. Berlin will take over reigns from Croatia starting on 1 July.
