Several meetings and visits were on the agenda of the Colombian President on Wednesday and Thursday. On Wednesday, Duque met Prime Minister Xavier Bettel at Senningen Castle to discuss various international issues and the countries’ bilateral cooperation. These issues included the situation in Ukraine, but also Venezuela and the role of Russia in both countries.
Duque heavily condemned the government of Nicolás Maduro in Venezuela for “constant violations of international law”. When asked about his opinion on Luxembourg’s close economic ties to Russia – a country which supports Venezuela – Duque replied that this does not prevent anyone from denouncing another’s actions. He pointed out that Colombia also has diplomatic relations with Russia but insisted that “we must be able to separate that from the situation in Venezuela”. Duque added that “what we see in Venezuela is clearly a brutal dictatorship”.
For his part, Prime Minister Xavier Bettel explained that “as long as we are not dealing with a dictatorship like Belarus or Venezuela”, dialogue must always be an option. Bettel stressed that he does not want to return to “another Cold War” in which countries must decide between West and East. “That would be terrible,” Bettel said, stressing that this is why “we must take care not to split the world in two”. “For me, multilateralism is always the solution”, the Prime Minister concluded.
During the first visit of a Colombian president in Luxembourg, Duque also announced that Xavier Bettel would visit him in Colombia. The country is set to hold elections in May. While Iván Duque will not run for re-election, he will remain in office until August. Bettel specified that he will visit Colombia when the timing allows for it.
The Colombian President later also met Grand Duke Henri and the President of the Chamber of Deputies, Fernand Etgen.
On Thursday, Duque visited the satellite operator SES. That same day, Minister of Finance Yuriko Backes and her Colombian counterpart José Manuel Restrepo Abondano signed a new agreement aimed at avoiding double taxation and preventing fiscal fraud with respect to taxes on income and capital. The agreement is meant to improve economic relations with Colombia.
Iván Duque also had a meeting with the former President of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker.
