The 48-year-old, who had only been vaccinated once with Astrazeneca, took part in the EU summit on Thursday and Friday. A spokesman for EU Council President Charles Michel emphasized on Twitter that compliance with the distance rules had been ensured at the summit.
According to his spokeswoman, Bettel suffers from mild symptoms such as fever and headache and wants to continue his work in the home office. Michel’s spokesman emphasized that Bettel had “tested negative” immediately before the EU summit. In addition, the Luxembourg authorities “do not assume that the Prime Minister had close contact with any of the Heads of State or Government before the symptoms appeared”.
According to Bettel’s spokeswoman, the 26 other heads of state and government, including Chancellor Sebastian Kurz (ÖVP), were not classified as contact persons. “None of the heads of state or government is on the Prime Minister’s list of close contacts,” said Bettel’s spokeswoman. In Luxembourg, close contact is when there is contact with an infected person for at least 15 minutes without protective measures such as a mask or a minimum distance.
Kurz was first vaccinated with the Astrazeneca vaccine just three weeks ago. Bettel had received his first vaccination in early May and the second dose was planned for this week, according to the Luxembourg government.
Pictures of the EU summit show how Bettel had closer contact with Austria’s Federal Chancellor Sebastian Kurz and EU Council Chairman Michel, among others. All three wore a mask. Kurz and Michel also took part in the celebration of the 30th anniversary of Slovenia’s independence in Ljubljana on Friday evening.
At the EU summit, Bettel was one of the leaders in opposition to the Hungarian “pedophile law”. “I didn’t get up one day and just become gay just because I saw an advertisement,” he tore apart the “protection of minors” argument put forward by Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban for the law that bans information about homosexuality. The liberal politician, who is married to a man, emphasized that it was “unacceptable” to mix the topics of pedophilia, pornography and homosexuality.
