These statements by the Luxembourgish Minister of Foreign Affairs are currently circulating in the German press after he refused to take a coronavirus test.
Prior to the EU summit in Berlin on Friday, those travelling from countries considered “at-risk” by Germany had to be tested. Asselborn stated that he wanted to set an example since the Grand Duchy is no longer being considered “at-risk” by Germany since 20 August.
Asselborn added that he did not travel from Luxembourg anyway as he had still been on his bicycle tour in France, which is also not considered “at-risk” by the German authorities.
The minister stated to the German press that it would have gone against his “intensive criticism and work” to take a test now since he did not travel to Germany from an at-risk country. Asselborn also used the opportunity to heavily criticise the German Robert Koch Institut (RKI), stating that he had a problem with the figures that served as the basis for their decisions as they were taken “out of context”.
Asselborn stressed that forcing Luxembourgers to get tested at the border and sending them into quarantine was “pure harassment” and could potentially even prove to be more damaging than having police officers monitor the borders.
Pirate Party MP Sven Clement submitted an urgent parliamentary question to ministers Jean Asselborn and Paulette Lenert in regard to this situation.
In it, the MP asks among other things whether Asselborn took this decision by himself and raises the question if it would not have been better for the minister to set an example by getting tested.
The MP’s question must be answered within one week.
During the summit talks, the ministers of foreign affairs had very different opinions on the situation in Belarus.
The Baltic countries Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania stressed that the EU plans for sanctions against Lukaschenko were not going far enough. All three countries stated that symbolic gestures would not be enough.
Since the summit in Berlin was informal, a final decision could not be taken. On Friday, the ministers will discuss the topics of Turkey and Russia.
