At the meeting, the Vietnamese diplomat expressed the country’s wish to promote substantive and effective defense cooperation with Austria, in line with the bilateral relations and the cooperation between Vietnam and the European Union (E.U.).
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Vietnamese Ambassador to Austria Vu Le Thai Hoang (left) and Dr. Arnold Kammel, Secretary General of the Austrian Ministry of Defense (Photo: nhandan.vn) |
Hoang emphasized Vietnam's steadfast foreign policy of independence, self-reliance, peace, friendship, cooperation, development, and multilateralization and diversification of external relations. Additionally, he reiterated Vietnam's "Four No's" defense policy and its strong commitment to resolving disputes and differences by peaceful means in accordance with international law.
The ambassador thanked the Government and the Ministry of Defense of Austria for their official development assistance (ODA) for Vietnam over the years, including the provision of fire trucks and medical equipment for military hospitals. He welcomed Austria’s continued ODA supply in the coming time.
He proposed promoting dialogue and delegation exchanges at all levels, especially the high level, to strengthen mutual understanding and trust, paving the way for concrete cooperation in training, U.N. peacekeeping, defense industry, cybersecurity, disaster response, and search and rescue.
For his part, Kammel noted the positive impressions of his visit to Vietnam in July 2024, during which he represented the E.U. at the launch of the Vietnamese version of the handbook on the E.U.'s Common Security and Defense Policy (CSDP). He affirmed that Vietnam is an increasingly important partner of Austria in Southeast Asia.
He agreed to work with the Vietnamese side on concrete plans and priorities to advance practical and effective defense cooperation in the coming time.
Austria has over 60 years of experience in U.N. peacekeeping operations, a well-developed defense industry, and strong interest in search and rescue, as well as cooperation in addressing non-traditional security challenges, particularly cybersecurity, Kammel noted, stressing that enhanced defense cooperation will help deepen bilateral ties in the lead-up to the 55th founding anniversary of diplomatic ties between Vietnam and Austria in 2027.
Source: VNA