© Screenshot Reuters
Luxembourg’s NATO envoys were seen in a rather unusual aircraft at a NATO summit on Tuesday, but there is a simple explanation for the choice of plane.
Prime Minister Xavier Bettel, Minister for Foreign and European Affairs Jean Asselborn, and Minister of Defence François Bausch were pictured getting out of an unusually looking plane after arriving in Vilnius for a NATO summit on Tuesday. Right next to the cockpit of the aircraft was a red skull with four letters: DM-MM.
© Screenshot Reuters
However, a quick online search helps clarify the meaning behind these letters: Depeche Mode and Memento Mori.
Today at NATO Meeting 👀
source: ZDF heute-Journal #DepecheMode #MementoMoriTour pic.twitter.com/q8MmBCv9vs— Depeche Mode Europe ✪ (@dmforumeu) July 11, 2023
After a five-year break, the synth pop icons have once again embarked on a world tour. Memento Mori is the title of their latest album and the reason the symbol and letters feature so prominently on the plane, a Bombardier CRJ-200LR OY-CRJ, according to skynews.ch. The band has been using the Global Reach Aviation aircraft since March 2023 and already travelled from Sacramento to New York and Bordeaux.
The band plans on performing a total of 78 concerts until 17 December this year.
© Depeche Mode
If you are thinking that Bettel, Asselborn, and Bausch are now poised to tour and perform with Depeche Mode, you are mistaken. Luxembourg’s NATO envoys did take the band’s plane, but for logistical reasons. For the trip to Lithuania, the Army was forced to charter an aircraft via the European Air Transport Command (EATC) since the majority of usually available military planes are already in use due to the summit.
The summit itself will focus on strengthening the military alliance and addressing pending membership requests, most notably those of Sweden and Ukraine.
Video footage of 1982: The day Depeche Mode played the Rainbow Club in Oberkorn
