Luxon starts Europe trip remembering NZ's past WWI sacrifice
Christopher Luxon's Europe trip has opened with the Prime Minister paying tribute to New Zealanders who served in World War I in Belgium's historic Ypres.
Luxon gave a reading of the Ode of Remembrance and laid a wreath as part of the Last Post ceremony under the Menin Gate.
He said listening to the rousing sound of bagpipers made him think of two things.
"For New Zealand, this is really significant because we lost almost 5,000 of our young people here — more than what we lost in Gallipoli — so it's really special for me to be able to be here tonight," the Prime Minister said.
"And also tomorrow, to actually pay our respects to the fallen that have come before us and served New Zealand so well."
ADVERTISEMENT
"Standing up for values that we see again with a European war happening in this day and age, 110 years later, that has some of the same characteristics — so it's a real pleasure to be here, a real honour to be here, and I thought it was a very moving ceremony."
Luxon said the comparison between the two conflicts, a century apart, was front of mind — both Kiwi defence efforts in World War I and its current support for Ukraine.
The second thought on his mind was his personal connection to WWI, with his great-grandfather having served.
Prime Minster Christopher Luxon (Source: 1News)
"I've read his letters home and in fact just last weekend I was in South Canterbury talking to a lot of family relatives about the experience as well, looking at different family history and photos," he said.
"It was pretty special to be here on a personal level but also representing New Zealand."
Luxon acknowledged the enthusiasm of the younger generations of Ypres, who he said continue to "take it seriously" and pay tribute to the sacrifice of other countries in WWI.
ADVERTISEMENT
The Menin Gate event commemorates more than 54,000 soldiers from Australia, Canada, India, South Africa and the UK who died in the region but have no known grave.
Only the names of 84 New Zealanders who served in British or other Commonwealth forces are marked on the gate, with soldiers from the New Zealand Expeditionary Force commemorated closer to where they were killed in battle.
The Last Post ceremony has taken place in Ypres every night since 1928, with the event only stopping during Germany's occupation in World War II.
The world leaders discussed a range of tricky topics, including the war in the Middle East and a suspension of funding to the Cook Islands. (Source: 1News)
Speaking about his time in Ypres, Brussels and the Netherlands over the next five days, Luxon said the trip was about strengthening economic and security ties with European countries and the Indo-Pacific Four — the group of NATO partners in the region that includes Australia, Japan, South Korea and New Zealand.
This is the fourth consecutive year New Zealand has been invited to attend the annual NATO summit.
"It's really important that we advocate for the rules-based system, that we reaffirm that from a trading point of view but from a security, defence point of view… in a volatile, complex world prosperity and security go together, they're inextricably linked and so you need to be able to have conversations on both sides of that coin."
ADVERTISEMENT
Only member countries will take part in the main meeting on Wednesday, where NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte is expected to propose that countries commit to spending 5% of GDP on core defence and defence-related costs such as infrastructure.
Luxon will take part in other engagements during the two-day event, including bilateral talks with other leaders.
He will also meet with European Commission leaders before the NATO summit.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Scoop
8 hours ago
- Scoop
The Five Percenters: NATO's Promise Of War
The confidence trickster was at it again on his visit to The Hague, reluctantly meeting members of the overly large family that is NATO. President Donald Trump was hoping to impress upon all present that allies of the United States, whatever inclination and whatever their domestic policy, should spend mightily on defence, inflating the margins of sense and sensibility against marginal threats. Never mind the strain placed on the national budget over such absurd priorities as welfare, health or education. The marvellous irony in this is that much of the budget increases have been prompted by Trump's perceived unreliability and capriciousness when it comes to European affairs. Would he, for instance, treat obligations of collective defence outlined in Article 5 of the organisation's governing treaty with utmost seriousness? Since Washington cannot be relied upon to hold the fort against the satanic savages from the East, various European countries have been encouraging a spike in defence spending to fight the sprites and hobgoblins troubling their consciences at night. The European Union, for instance, has put in place initiatives that will make getting more weaponry and investing in the military industrial complex easier than ever, raising the threshold of defence expenditure across all member countries to 3.5% of GDP by the end of the decade. And then there is the Ukraine conflict, a war Brussels cannot bear to see end on terms that might be remotely favourable to Russia. The promised pecuniary spray made at the NATO summit was seen by NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte as utterly natural if not eminently sensible. Not much else was. It was Rutte who remarked with infantile fawning that 'Sometimes Daddy has to use tough language' when it came to sorting out the murderous bickering between Israel and Iran. Daddy Trump approved. 'He likes me, I think he likes me,' the US president crowed with glowing satisfaction. Rutte's behaviour has been viewed with suspicion, as well it should. Under his direction, NATO headquarters have made a point of diminishing any focus on climate change and its Women, Peace, and Security agenda. He has failed to make much of Trump's mania for the annexation of Greenland, or the President's gladiatorial abuse of certain leaders when visiting the White House – Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky and South Africa's Cyril Ramaphosa come to mind. 'He is not paid to implement MAGA policy,' grumbled a European NATO diplomat to Euroactive. In his doorstep statement of June 25, Rutte made his wish known that the NATO collective possess both the money and capabilities to cope, not just with Russia 'but also the massive build-up of military in China, and the fact that North Korea, China and Iran, are supporting the war effort in Ukraine'. Lashings of butter were also added to the Trump ego when responding to questions. 'Would you really think that the seven or eight countries not at 2% [of GDP expenditure on defence] at the beginning of this year would have reached the 2% if Trump would not have been elected President of the United States?' It was only appropriate, given the contributions of the US ('over 50% of the total NATO economy'), that things had to change for the Europeans and Canadians. The centrepiece of the Hague Summit Declaration is a promise that 5% of member countries' gross GDP will go to 'core defence requirements as well as defence and security-related spending by 2035 to ensure our individual and collective obligations'. Traditional bogeyman Russia is the predictable antagonist, posing a 'long-term threat […] to Euro-Atlantic security', but so was 'the persistent threat of terrorism'. The target is optimistic, given NATO's own recent estimates that nine members spend less than the current target of 2% of GDP. What is misleading in the declaration is the accounting process: the 3.5% of annual GDP that will be spent 'on the agreed definition of NATO defence expenditure by 2035 to resource core defence requirements, and to meet NATO Capability Targets' is one component. The other 1.5%, a figure based on a creative management of accounts, is intended to 'protect our critical infrastructure, defend our networks, ensure our civil preparedness and resilience, unleash innovation, and strengthen our defence industrial base.' Another misleading element in the declaration is the claimed unanimity of member states. The Baltic countries and Poland are forever engaged in increasing their defence budgets in anticipation of a Russian attack, but the same cannot be said of other countries less disposed to the issue. Slovakia's Prime Minister Robert Fico, for instance, declared on the eve of the summit that his country had 'better things to spend money on'. Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has also called the 5% target 'incompatible with our world view', preferring to focus on a policy of prudent procurement. Rutte seemed to revel in his role as wallah and jesting sycophant, making sure Trump was not only placated but massaged into a state of satisfaction. It was a sight all the stranger for the fact that Trump's view of Russian President Vladimir Putin, is a warm one. Unfortunately for the secretary general, his role will be forever etched in the context of European history as an aspiring warmonger, one valued at 5% of the GDP of any of the NATO member states. Hardly a flattering epitaph.
Newsroom
8 hours ago
- Newsroom
The secret to-do list of David Seymour
Monday * Attend my first press conference as Deputy Prime Minister and speak solemnly about international affairs to strengthen the perception I am a world statesman worthy of respect. * Name some worthy academic no one has ever heard of and hold them to ridicule. * RSVP to the birthday party for a child of an influential donor from the Atlas Project. Tuesday * Take credit for the budget cuts to Radio New Zealand to strengthen the perception that Act is a powerful enemy of state-funded left-wing propaganda that attacks Act at every opportunity and gives Labour, the Greens and old scribble-face a free ride. * Increase state funding of Act's comms department. * Confirm that I will be happy to play pin the tail on the donkey at the Atlas Project children's birthday party. Wednesday * Ridicule Labour MP Willie Jackson for his comments that the Regulatory Standards Bill is set up for my mates from powerful corporations who are following their manifest destiny to despoil the countryside in exchange for massive profits which ought not be subject to tax. * Meet mates for drink. * Draw a line in the stand and decline invitation to actually play the donkey that gets a tail pinned to it at the Atlas Project children's birthday party. Thursday * Give Act's comms department the hard word to find someone who has made ridiculing remarks about me so I can whine and complain about it to strengthen the perception I am constantly under attack by the intelligentsia. * Find a way to undermine Luxon. * Find a way to undermine someone who votes Green and hugs trees. * Find a way to undermine somehow who can be described as a Māori fanatic. * Find a way to undermine someone who performs selfless acts for the betterment of society and gives hope to families doing it hard but who is associated with Labour. Friday * Seek private medical treatment for multiple puncture wounds inflicted by rich little brats wielding really sharp pins who seemed to take great pleasure in pinning a donkey's tail all over my body at the Atlas Project children's birthday party. Their parents seemed to enjoy it too. I can still hear their mocking laughter.
NZ Herald
13 hours ago
- NZ Herald
Luxon shines on global stage but has work to do at home - Fran O'Sullivan
Nato Secretary-General Mark Rutte, who Luxon would meet with later in the week as the sole political leader from the Indo-Pacific Four present at the big security meeting at the Hague, also had a strong career at Unilever before becoming Dutch Prime Minister. Rutte held that role for almost 14 years before taking up the security alliance leadership in October 2024. Further insights into the Unilever style were shared: I was pointed to a Dutch magazine which acknowledged Unilever disproportionally produces leaders as it invested in leadership development long before it became fashionable, and recruitment always factored in more than IQ alone – soft skills and aspects like motivation, personality and worldview. Unilever also used to hire a surplus of management trainees which hence had to compete; people were often thrown into the deep end by being sent overseas, and because of the surplus, good managers ended up elsewhere as well. In Leiden there was business to do. Luxon worked a room stacked with representatives of Kiwi firms based in the Netherlands and potential Dutch investors in NZ. There was keen interest from the private equity players and investors I spoke with in the Government's drive to increase foreign investment in NZ and to leverage the ground-breaking EU-NZ Free Trade Agreement. This is important as the Government seeks to obtain broader-based investment in NZ. This will be emphasised later this year at the European Business Summit, which is expected to attract participation by potential investors from Europe. The Prime Minister is now in his sweet spot on these international sojourns. He is a practised hand when it comes to putting his hustle on. That was evident at his earlier business meetings in Shanghai and Beijing where he promoted NZ dairy and beef products, tourism and more. His meetings with Chinese President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Qiang were highly successful. It was obvious at the Great Hall of the People that he had struck a warm accord with both leaders – the body language spoke to that along with flattering comments from the president. At the Nato dinner he was placed with French President Emmanuel Macron and EU President Ursula von der Leyen. The Nato meeting was essentially a drum roll for US President Donald Trump off the back of the US bombing Iranian nuclear facilities and his efforts to bring Israel and Iran back to negotiations. The European partners in Nato have agreed to increase their defence budgets at Trump's urging. The meeting between Rutte and Nato's Indo-Pacific partners – NZ, South Korea, Japan and Australia – was more vanilla. Rutte's statement indicated Nato and the Indo-Pacific Four were committed to strengthening dialogue and co-operation, based on shared strategic interests and common values, and on the recognition that the security of the Euro-Atlantic and Indo-Pacific is interconnected. Rutte expressed Nato's gratitude to the Indo-Pacific partners for their 'steadfast support' to Ukraine and Flagship Projects. Where Nato and the Indo-Pacific Four will concentrate is on learning from each other on key topics, including the security of supply chains, development, production and procurement processes. They will look to collaborate on projects to deliver capabilities including in the space and maritime domains, and in the area of munitions. There will also be co-operation with Nato on emerging and disruptive technologies and opportunities to foster co-operation on innovation through relevant actors, including dual-use start-ups. It seems clear from the Nato statement that the interoperability of NZ's forces with the Western security alliance will also be pursued with the potential to create collaborative defence industrial opportunities. This is heady stuff. Luxon returned to NZ yesterday after 12 days on the road. He is faced with declining polls, the need to engage more with the senior business community through listening and to ensure domestic issues like NZ's energy security are solved. He's done a good job on the global stage - there is now work to be done at home.
