Meet NATO’s smallest army, the Luxembourgers. Luxembourg is a founding member of NATO and although small in size, its army has taken part in NATO operations and missions throughout the world.
Currently, Luxembourg is contributing to the NATO multinational battlegroup in Lithuania with a team of six soldiers from the Luxembourg Armed Forces. The team make up a transport and logistics unit, moving supplies and equipment across the country in support of the battlegroup’s mission.
The Luxembourg unit works alongside troops from Belgium, Czechia, Germany, the Netherlands and Norway, which are currently part of the battlegroup.
Transcript
TEXT ON SCREEN
—SOUNDBITE IN ENGLISH—
OR2 Rafael Becacosta , Luxembourg Armed Forces
GRAPHIC: OR2 RAFAEL BECACOSTA , Luxembourg Armed Forces
‘Luxembourg is a really, really small country.
It's like, from one side to the other,
from north to south, it's between 80
and 90 kilometres.
That's something people don't know,
and that we have our own language.
So we speak Luxembourgish in Luxembourg, not German or French.’
— TEXT ON SCREEN —
SMALL BUT STRONG: THE LUXEMBOURG ARMY
—SOUNDBITE IN ENGLISH—
OR2 JAEL MAY, Luxembourg Armed Forces
GRAPHIC: OR2 JAEL MAY, Luxembourg Armed Forces
‘We are the smallest army in the NATO.
Small but strong.
In Luxembourgish we would say:
'Kleng awer staark.' (Small but strong.)
—SOUNDBITE IN ENGLISH—
OR2 Enes Bijelic, Luxemburg Armed Forces
‘The main job of the Luxembourgish
guys in Lithuania is everything in common
with the transport.
So real-life support. We are supporting the battlegroups.
So when they are working or training in the field,
we support them with food, with ammunition,
with fuel, with everything they need to fight in the battlefield.
—SOUNDBITE IN ENGLISH—
OR2 JAEL MAY, Luxembourg Armed Forces
‘It's a good job.
You're always doing different stuff.
Yeah, it’s exciting.
It's not a job where you do every
day the same work.’
—SOUNDBITE IN ENGLISH—
OR2 Rafael Becacosta , Luxembourg Armed Forces
‘I think the good part of it is it's really multinational. We can know other people, other nations, other personalities.
We learn also what they do and what material they use. And I think the highlight is what we can know from Lithuania and from other nations.
That's the best part of it.’
—SOUNDBITE IN ENGLISH—
OR2 Enes Bijelic, Luxembourg Armed Forces
‘You have to work good with everyone. You have to be good with everyone, with your team.
You have to be close with them. Let's say it's like an emotional attachment, it's like family.
And then during the mission, you feel it even more than at home in Luxembourg back in the barracks.’
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