High-level political consultations between Vietnam and the EU

Political consultations between Vietnamese Deputy Foreign Minister Bui Thanh Son and the Executive Director of the European External Affairs Agency (EEAS), David O'Sullivan, took place on April 15 in Brussels.

This is the second ministerial-level consultation under the agreement between Vietnam and the European Union (EU).

During the consultations, both sides informed each other about their respective socio-economic development situations, reviewed Vietnam-EU cooperation over the past period, and exchanged views on measures to strengthen Vietnam-EU cooperation in key areas such as politics, security and defense, economy, trade and investment, development cooperation, and migration. They also identified a list of priority areas for the early implementation of the Vietnam-EU Comprehensive Partnership and Cooperation Agreement (PCA) in 2013.

Vietnamese Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Bui Thanh Son and Executive Director of the European External Affairs Agency (EEAS) David O'Sullivan. (Photo: Vietnamese Embassy in Belgium)

The two sides also exchanged views on a number of regional and international issues of common concern such as climate change, ASEAN-EU cooperation, Mekong Subregion cooperation, the South China Sea issue, human rights, and peacekeeping operations. Both sides affirmed their commitment to continue close coordination and mutual support in international and regional forums.

The Vietnamese Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and the Director of the EEAS highly appreciated the cooperation between the two foreign affairs agencies and agreed to further strengthen the consultation mechanism, making a positive contribution to promoting Vietnam-EU cooperation.

On the sidelines of the consultations, Deputy Minister Bui Thanh Son held a working session with Mr. Pedro Serrano, foreign affairs advisor to the President of the European Council, Van Rompuy.

On this occasion, Deputy Minister Bui Thanh Son also met with the Permanent Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Belgium, Dirk Achten. The two sides reviewed the implementation of agreements reached by high-level leaders of the two countries in the fields of politics, economy-trade-investment, development cooperation, science-technology, and education, and exchanged views on future directions for cooperation.

Both sides agreed to actively implement cooperation in priority areas, especially in education and training, information technology, biotechnology, environment, water resource management, etc., and agreed to coordinate activities to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Vietnam and Belgium.

The Vietnam-EU political consultations and the working session with the Belgian Ministry of Foreign Affairs took place in an open, frank, and constructive spirit, contributing to strengthening cooperative relations between Vietnam and the EU in general, and with Belgium in particular.

According to (VNA) - DT