Vietnam, EU hold first Vietnam – EU Defense Dialogue
A high-ranking delegation of the Ministry of Defense led by Senior Lieutenant General Nguyen Chi Vinh, Deputy Minister of Defense, held the first Vietnam – EU Defense Dialogue and attended the Meeting of EU Chiefs of Defense in Brussels, Belgium, from November 19 to 24.
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| Photo: Vietnam+ |
At the Dialogue, representatives of Vietnam and the EU appreciated the bilateral defense cooperation in the past time, saying that this was the first time the EU had established a separate defense and security dialogue mechanism with Vietnam, contributing to promoting mutual trust and effective cooperation on security and defense in the time to come.
The EU also reiterated their viewpoint of supporting freedom, security and safety of navigation and aviation in the East Sea (South China Sea and spoke highly of Vietnam’s position in the Asia – Pacific for peace and stability of each region and the world.
Earlier, speaking at the Meeting of EU Chiefs of Defense on November 21, Defense Deputy Minister Nguyen Chi Vinh expressed Vietnam’s interest in training missions of the EU in African countries, affirmed Vietnam’s willingness to promote cooperation with the EU and to be a responsible partner of the EU on the basis of the comprehensive partnership and cooperation, especially after the two sides reached the FPA.
During the event that gathered defense chiefs from Vietnam and other 28 EU members and international guests, delegates discussed various issues related to three training missions conducted the EU in Mali, Somali and Central African Republic with a focus on such issues as impacts of climate change on training missions, the role of women in training missions and measures to improve operational efficiency.
Such a meeting is organized in every two years with several discussions on security, defense and crisis management of the EU and its partners. Since the two sides signed the FPA on November 17, 2019, Vietnam has attended the EU-hosted events as an EU’s partner.
