On 11 May 2026, Europa-Union Luxemburg and JEF Luxembourg organised another edition of their “Let’s talk about Europe!” event series. This time, the guest of honour was Minister Yuriko Backes.

The event focused on the topic “Society in Transition: Why Violence is Increasing and How Sustainable Prevention Can Succeed”. The discussion was moderated by Melina Fellens, member of the board of the Europa-Union Luxemburg. For the first time, the event was conducted predominantly in French, reflecting the multilingual reality of everyday life in Luxembourg. Mike Arrensdorf, board member of the Europa-Union Luxemburg and Chairman of JEF Luxembourg, welcomed the guests in English.

In her opening remarks, Minister Yuriko Backes also spoke in English and addressed the growing issue of violence in society in her role as Minister for Gender Equality and Diversity. She emphasised that prevention and victim protection are key political challenges that also have an important European dimension.

The subsequent panel discussion in French featured Ana Pinto, President of the victims’ organisation “La Voix des survivant-e-s”, Marzenka Krejcirik from OKAJU – the Ombud Office for Children and Young People – and Walid Megharbi from infoMann.

Particular attention was given to the protection of minors. During the discussion, participants highlighted that European regulations aimed at protecting children and young people are not always implemented consistently. Cases still occur in which minors are able to travel alone and board aircraft without the legally required parental consent.

Following the final Q&A session, participants continued the exchange during a small reception and had the opportunity to further discuss the issues raised throughout the evening.