Covering 998 square miles of Western Europe and just shy of 700,000 people, Luxembourg has gained a reputation as one of the most important financial and diplomatic centers in the 27-member European Union. 

In this landlocked country smaller than Rhode Island, economic diversity ranges from banking to steel; EU institutions including the Court of Justice and the European Investment Bank call it home.

“We are in the middle, at the crossroads. Whereas France has a financial center for France, Germany for Germany, there was no real center for cross-border finance,” said Nicole Bintner-Bakshian, Luxembourg’s departing ambassador to the United States. “And that’s how we started to cater to this niche.”

Bintner-Bakshian was the featured speaker at The Washington Diplomat’s latest Ambassador Insider Series event, held July 15. More than 120 people packed the Royal Sonesta Hotel in Dupont Circle to hear veteran journalist Adrienne Ross interview her at the Diplomat’s signature event. 

The evening took place on the heels of the 2026 Ankara NATO summit July 7-8, in which Luxembourg supported a proposed global defense bank, and reiterated its commitment to increase its defense spending to 5% of its GDP by 2035. 

But Luxembourg’s defense policy has not always aligned with its allies. The 1867 Treaty of London declared Luxembourg a neutral and defenseless country until it was invaded by Germany in both world wars, and liberated by the Allies.

“That event defined our relationship with the United States very much… neutrality was not an option anymore,” Bintner-Bakshian told her audience. “We needed rules to define how we interact. We needed rules on how to make war impossible. So, for a country like Luxembourg, it was fundamental to engage itself on the sides of other powers at the founding of NATO, the founding of the United Nations, the founding of the Bretton Woods institutions and the founding of the EU.”

Since then, Luxembourg has played a vital role in the European market, making advancements in space technology and AI, growing its economy in the financial sector and steel production, and operating as a financial bridge among nations, which has influenced a flow of migration. In 2025, it ranked second (behind only Malta) among EU members in terms of growth, with its population expanding by 1.58%. 

“We have about half of our workforce crossing the border every day, hence the importance of open borders and having the Schengen area,” said Bintner-Bakshian. 

This means the country is quite diverse. In fact, nearly one in every two residents of Luxembourg is a foreign national and the country has three official languages: Luxembourgish, French and German, with the use of English expanding over the past couple of decades. 

“I’ve been abroad for 20 years now, and the country has really grown internationally,” said Bintner-Bakshian. “We have seen diversity as a strength and having the communities work, live together…we would never be where we are without these waves of immigration, so we are incredibly grateful.”

For Bintner-Bakshian, diversity is more than a feature of her home country, it has defined her career in diplomacy. 

Before coming to Washington in 2021, the ambassador served diplomatic positions throughout the world. She was Luxembourg’s first resident ambassador to the United Arab Emirates and later established her country’s first regional embassy in Dakar, Senegal, covering Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger, while also serving as special envoy to the Sahel region. 

“In every post, you become very humble. You start with a lot of humility. [Serving] in a country like China, which is so foreign, you go to the supermarket and you don’t know whether you’re buying shampoo or dishwashing liquid,” she joked. “I consider myself incredibly lucky to have been able to serve in the Far East, in South Asia, in the Middle East, in Africa, and I think all these experiences serving in different parts of the world bring you a perspective to listen to people.”

Rounding out the conversation with Ross, Bintner-Bakshian reflected on her tenure in Washington, which has included strengthening bilateral relations with the US and connecting with the Luxembourg diaspora. 

“One of the first experiences I did with my daughters just after we arrived was we went straight to Wisconsin to meet with the diaspora, and it was an incredible experience,” she said. “And one thing that surprised me a lot was the importance of heritage in this country. Where you came from, the celebration of heritage and how heritage helps to shape identity is incredibly important.”

When asked what she’ll miss most about Washington, Bintner-Bakshian said it’s the connections she’s made in the local diplomatic community and her fellow women ambassadors in particular. 

“Like in any post, it’s about the people, it’s about the friendships, it’s about the links. Diplomacy is all about creating these links,” she said. 

“We never look at ourselves like a women ambassador or a male ambassador, we just look at ourselves as representatives of our country. However in saying this, there is a sisterhood we have amongst the women ambassadors, women diplomats or all the women colleagues.”

Bintner-Bakshian heads back to Luxembourg this month where she has been nominated as the ambassador for foreign trade. Following the conversation, guests were invited for dinner, drinks and networking with the ambassador at The Riggsby, a local restaurant.

The Washington Diplomat’s Ambassador Insider Series is now in its 11th year.