Luc Frieden: « We won’t build bunkers in Luxembourg »

Luc Frieden (CSV) did not save with praise for his Finnish host Petteri Orpo, who is not by chance at the same time also head of the Northern European country. « Thank you for the friendship between Luxembourg and Finland and also for your personal friendship, » said Frieden at the beginning of the joint press conference in the residence of the Finnish premier in Helsinki.

Luxembourg’s premier Luc Frieden accepted the invitation orpos on Monday and Tuesday. The focus of the job visit in the second youngest NATO member country was the exchange on topics such as cyber security, in-depth cooperation, civil protection and the war in Ukraine. The last visit to a Luxembourg Prime Minister was a good six years ago, at that time the head of government was called Xavier Bettel (DP).

Luxembourg’s premier Luc Frieden accepted the invitation orpos on Monday and Tuesday. The focus of the job visit in the second youngest NATO member country was the exchange on topics such as cyber security, in-depth cooperation, civil protection and the war in Ukraine. The last visit to a Luxembourg Prime Minister was a good six years ago, at that time the head of government was called Xavier Bettel (DP).

Peace visit to Finland was not a journey of the big decisions, but it was the knowledge. These are that the Finns are far ahead of the Luxembourgers, especially in the area of ​​quantum computers, that the security of the European Union is also defended in Finland and that both countries « represent the same values » – both politically and economically.

The latter in particular with the request to bring Luxembourg research institutes and companies together with Finnish. « In Europe it is about completing each other. Together we are stronger, » said Frieden. At most, Dissens prevailed in the debt admission in favor of national armaments programs. Finland belongs to the series of countries that have applied for this project with the EU as part of « Rearm Europe » to soften the debt rule. Peace gave this a rejection for Luxembourg: « I won’t allow that ».

Luxembourg should start in the quantum technology age

Finland is fighting with a stagnating economy. The Orpos government recently had to support the budget with additional debt consumption of 10 billion euros. « This is a lot of money compared to our economic output. Our economy has not grown for years, at the same time we have high expenses for the public sector, » explains ORPO, who was himself a finance minister, visibly caught.

In addition to an aging society that force more expenses, especially in the health sector, Finland is faced with the « permanent danger of Russia ». This led to « enormous expenses for defense ». From 2029, Orpo plans to spend 3.3 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP) for defense annually. For comparison: Luxembourg is currently 1.32 percent and is planning to be at least two percent by 2030. Finland’s answer to this are reforms that are supposed to stimulate economic growth.

The protocol provided such a tight schedule that hardly gave time to a deeper exchange between the Premier and the Finnish experts. In any case, not sufficient to be able to understand, for example, the functioning of a quantum computer – the most powerful in the EU.

The computer developed at the Finland VTT technical research center is the situation to cope with complex tasks for which conventional systems need months to « manage within a few seconds », as Piia Konstiri, director of quantum technology at the VTT. The possible area of ​​application is, for example, research at molecular level, in which billions of molecule combinations must be calculated.

The quantum computer or its parts are considered dual-use goods and are therefore subject to restrictions regarding exports. Soft or hardware is usually classified as a dual-use, which can be used both civil and militarily. To what extent the possibilities of the VTT quantum computer are requested by private companies in the Finnish defense sector, VTT expert Konstiri did not want to reveal.

New security strategy for the Grand Duchy

Luxembourg is also planning the project funding of domestic companies with a dual-use portfolio as part of the increasing defense spending and inspires investments in quantum technology. « I believe that Luxembourg can play a strong role with a data strategy, with a AI strategy and a quantum strategy in the EU. »

Peace of Finland’s “all -encompassing security strategy” (Comprehensive Security Model) was impressed. It stipulates that the public sector, the private sector and NGOs work together to prepare for different dangers. « I also want to have such a strategy in Luxembourg, » said Frieden.

This also includes the fight against hybrid threats, such as election manipulations or disinformation campaigns controlled by abroad. Peace in Helsinki took the opportunity to get information about this from experts from the European Center of Excellence for Countering Hybrid Threats. The aim of hybrid attacks is to destroy trust in democracy from the inside. Peace also wants expertise to defend such attacks for Luxembourg.

Finland shares a more than 1,300 kilometer border with Russia. In its history, the country had to defend itself militarily against Russia or the Soviet Union twice – most recently in 1940 with sensitive area losses. Since then, the Finnish governments have made enormous efforts in the field of defense and civil protection.

An example that Luxembourg could follow? « We won’t build bunkers in Luxembourg, » commented Premier Frieden a corresponding demand.