Embassy closure reports ‘inaccurate’, US officials tell Bettel

Reports that the US embassy in Luxembourg will close are “inaccurate”, officials told Foreign Minister Xavier Bettel during a working visit to Washington, DC on Thursday.

Bettel in Washington met with trade representative Jamieson Greer and Executive Secretary at the State Department Lisa Kenna.

“The discussion between Minister Bettel and his US counterparts covered a range of bilateral issues, including the recent rumours about a possible closure of the US embassy in Luxembourg,” a spokesperson told the Luxembourg Times by email.

“In this context, it was reaffirmed – as already stated by the US embassy in Luxembourg – that these reports were inaccurate, and that the embassy continues to operate as usual,” the spokesperson said.

Politico on Monday had published a list of consulates and embassies it said had been recommended by the State Department to be closed as part of a cost-cutting drive. That list included Luxembourg.

The US embassy this week in a statement said that no closures had been announced and that this list had not been released by the State Department. It did not, however, affirm that the embassy would definitely not close.

The CEO of the American Chamber of Commerce in Luxembourg, Paul Schonenberg, on Thursday in an interview said he was planning on sending a letter to US President Donald Trump to argue that the embassy should remain open and that the Grand Duchy is an important “ally and friend”.