Delivering his opening speech, General Chien highly valued the effective outcomes of the first defense-security dialogue in November 2019 in Brussels (Belgium), as well as the development in the Vietnam-EU defense cooperation over the past time.
He also underscored that the second event was held in the context of the 30th founding anniversary of Vietnam-EU diplomatic ties (November 28, 1990-2020) and one year after the signing of an agreement on the establishment of an agreement for Vietnam’s participation in the EU’s crisis management activities.
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Vietnamese Deputy Defense Minister Senior Lieutenant General Hoang Xuan Chien at the dialogue. |
For his part, Mr. Pawel Herczynski underlined that 2020 is a special year, marking the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the EU and Vietnam.
Amid the complicated development of the COVID-19 pandemic, Vietnamese Ambassador to Belgium, Luxembourg and Head of the Vietnamese Delegation to the EU Vu Anh Quang affirmed that the defense-security dialogue, together with bilateral cooperation in many fields, would actively contribute to boosting the Vietnam-EU partnership and cooperation in the time to come.
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Scene of the online dialogue. (Screen captured) |
Meanwhile, Ambassador and Head of the EU Delegation to Vietnam Pier Giorgio Aliberti held that this year’s event provided opportunity for both sides to discuss defense-security issues and cooperation in various fields in the coming time.
During the event, General Chien showed pleasure at the development of the bilateral defense cooperation, and affirmed that Vietnam always attaches much importance to the cooperation with the EU.
He also praised the achievements of the two sides’ joint activities in pandemic response and control as well as the potential of their bilateral cooperation.
On this occasion, General Chien informed the EU side of the schedule of the events Vietnam will host in the time to come as it is taking the dual role of ASEAN 2020 Chair and non-permanent member of the UN Security Council this year, hoping that the EU will continue supporting Vietnam to fulfill its mission as ASEAN Chair 2020.
Also at the dialogue, the two sides agreed to boost cooperation in delegation exchanges, overcoming war consequences, and UN peacekeeping operations, among others.
Translated by Minh Anh