Fighting for peace

The UN Charter initially provided for the creation of international military forces, but this plan was never implemented. As a result, the UN does not have a permanent army, although it has repeatedly authorised military interventions led by coalitions of member states. For example, the Security Council approved military assistance to South Korea after the North Korean invasion, with Luxembourg contributing 85 soldiers integrated into a Belgian-Luxembourgish battalion.

Although the UN does not have its own army, it regularly approves peacekeeping operations with soldiers called the Blue Helmets. They were first deployed in 1956 during the Suez Crisis. Since then, they are enforcing ceasefires and stabilising fragile environments without engaging in combat, strictly maintaining impartiality.

Military intervention for humanitarian purposes gained new momentum with the adoption of the Responsibility to Protect (R2P) doctrine in 2005, which aims to prevent mass atrocities, such as genocide or war crimes. However, it has been criticised for its potential geopolitical instrumentalisation.

In 1992, Luxembourg has established a legal framework to allow the participation of its armed forces in international operations. As early as March 1992, it deployed its first contingent to Yugoslavia under a UN mandate. Beyond these missions, the country has also participated in NATO operations, such as in Afghanistan (2003) and Iraq (2021). Following the invasion of Ukraine, Luxembourg stationed soldiers in Lithuania and Romania. The Grand Duchy also contributes to European Union missions, such as the EU Monitoring Mission in Georgia (EUMM, 2008) and the EU Military Assistance Mission in Ukraine (EUMAM Ukraine, 2022). Additionally, Luxembourgish demining experts have destroyed mines and explosive remnants of war in Lebanon among other countries. Since 1992, over 1,500 Luxembourgish soldiers have participated in peacekeeping operations.