Luxembourg has refused to participate in negotiations on a nuclear weapons ban (TPNW)
Dan Meyers, Unsplash
Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade Xavier Bettel, in a response to a parliamentary enquiry by MP Sven Clement, confirmed that Luxembourg will not participate in the negotiations of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW), even as an observer.
The main reason is that TPNW is not in line with NATO's strategy, where nuclear deterrence is seen as a key element of collective and transatlantic security.
Furthermore, observer status would require a financial investment. The Government considers it irrational to spend money on an initiative whose membership is unrealistic within the policy framework of Luxembourg and its allies.
Instead of the TPNW, Luxembourg continues to focus on the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), which remains the backbone of the international security system.
Luxembourg's position is in line with NATO's common line as set out in the North Atlantic Council statement of 15 December 2020 and reaffirmed in the communiqué of the NATO Vilnius Summit in 2023.
