Nationalism returning to Europe, warns EU’s longest serving foreign minister

Jean Asselborn along with others in the NATO and the EU, was instrumental in welcoming Russia to the diplomatic high table in the 1990s

On February 10, 2007, President Vladimir Putin of Russia addressed the Munich Conference in Germany. The audience greeted the Russian leader warmly. But his aggressive speech took them by surprise. The uni-polar system of the world, that the U.S. is trying to promote, is "pernicious", said Mr. Putin.

Following the February 24 invasion of Ukraine, that speech of President Putin is being discussed widely. One of those who attended the speech is Jean Asselborn, the Foreign Minister of Luxembourg and one of the few leading diplomats with extensive experience of diplomacy with Russia.

Though he heard Mr. Putin’s warning in Munich, Mr. Asselborn is nevertheless surprised by the turn of events in Ukraine after the Russian invasion. “I never expected this from Russia. There was a certain amount of trust in Russia in a lot of European countries,” he said during an exclusive interview with The Hindu.

Mr. Asselborn has been a leading politician and policy maker of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg and he, along with others in the NATO and the EU, were instrumental in welcoming Russia to the diplomatic high table in the 1990s. The idea of these meetings was to have a conversation with post-Cold War Russia and build mutual trust between Russia and the NATO.

"Those were difficult meetings but they did take place. A lot of things were done. From our side, we took up the issue of reduction of arms," said Mr. Asselborn to The Hindu during his just concluded visit to Delhi to attend the Raisina Dialogue. Introducing the guest from Luxembourg, External Affairs Minister Dr. S. Jaishankar referred to him as his "seniormost colleague" as he has been the foreign minister of Luxembourg since 2004.

Mr. Asselborn turned 73 on April 27 and he marked his birthday in Delhi. A child of post-World War II Europe, he was born in Steinfort of Luxembourg, which was occupied by Nazi Germany from 1940 till September 1944. He began his public life as a trade union activist and spent the early part of his career in the Cold War era. This was followed by his arrival on the national scene of Luxembourg in 1984, when he became a member of Luxembourg's Parliament. In 2004, following election victory, Luxembourg Socialist Workers Party appointed Mr. Asselborn as the Foreign Minister, a post he has maintained till now turning him into the "longest serving foreign minister in the European Union".

Looking back at the turn of events in Europe, where war has returned after seven decades because of the Russian campaign against Ukraine, Mr. Asselborn says, "Relationship was always complicated and especially after Georgia operation in 2008 and the operation against Crimea in 2014. Nobody expected that they could do what they have done. This really changed the world and we have to pay attention because if this is tolerated, then it can happen also in other parts of the world."