General Secretary To Lam had a phone call with President of the European Council Antonio Costa. (Photo: Thong Nhat/VNA)

On the evening of April 30, President of the European Council Antonio Costa had a phone call with General Secretary To Lam to congratulate Vietnam on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the Liberation of the South and National Reunification (April 30, 1975 - April 30, 2025).

Expressing his joy and honor to have a phone call with General Secretary To Lam on April 30 to celebrate the happy day of the Vietnamese people, President Antonio Costa warmly congratulated the General Secretary and assessed that "this is a great historical event not only for Vietnam but also for the conscience of the whole world."

General Secretary To Lam thanked the European Union (EU) and the President of the European Council personally for their warm congratulations on the occasion of Vietnam celebrating the Liberation of the South and National Reunification Day.

The General Secretary emphasized the great significance of the Great Victory in Spring 1975, a brilliant milestone in the history of national construction and defense of the Vietnamese people, affirming that this was a particularly important event opening a new era in the history of the Vietnamese people - building a peaceful, unified, independent, democratic, prosperous Vietnam, not only the result of the strength of national solidarity, realizing the aspiration for peace, independence, freedom, and national unification of the Vietnamese people but also bearing profound significance for the strength of the aspiration and international support for peace and national independence. Vietnam appreciates and thanks the valuable support of the international community, including EU member countries.

The General Secretary thanked the President of the European Council for his attention and support for the development of Vietnam-EU relations; was pleased with the dynamic and comprehensive development of Vietnam-EU relations from politics-diplomacy, trade-investment, defense-security to new areas such as green transformation, science-technology, and innovation; affirmed that after 35 years of establishing diplomatic relations, Vietnam and the EU as well as the relationship between the two sides are facing a new stage of development.

The General Secretary affirmed that in the context of difficult world trade, Vietnam advocates multilateralization, diversification, equal and mutually beneficial cooperation with all partners, including the EU and its member states, towards balanced and sustainable trade cooperation and harmonizing the interests of all parties to achieve common development goals.

The General Secretary suggested that the two sides actively discuss and coordinate to find common solutions to remove difficulties and obstacles to strongly develop economic cooperation in the coming time.

General Secretary To Lam had a phone call with President of the European Council Antonio Costa. (Photo: Thong Nhat/VNA)

The President of the European Council affirmed that the two sides are “important, reliable and stable partners” of each other; was pleased to see that the bilateral relationship is developing dynamically and strongly in all areas; affirmed that “Vietnam is a pillar partner of the EU in Southeast Asia and the Vietnam-EU relationship deserves to be raised to a new level”; said that “the EU is proud to be part of Vietnam’s network of free trade agreements, and hopes that the Vietnam-EU relationship will be a model of cooperation for the EU’s cooperation with other countries.”

The President of the European Council affirmed that in the context of complex geopolitical and economic fluctuations in the world, the EU wishes to strengthen cooperation with Vietnam to promote free trade and respond to global challenges, including climate change; the two sides need to strengthen cooperation in the fields of transportation, infrastructure connectivity, green transformation, digital transformation, innovation, etc.

The President of the European Council agreed and affirmed that he would coordinate to promote the priorities in bilateral relations mentioned by the General Secretary, including exchanging high-level delegations; effectively implementing cooperation mechanisms to remove difficulties and obstacles and proposing new cooperation initiatives; effectively implementing the Vietnam-EU Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA), urging the remaining EU member countries to soon complete the ratification of the Vietnam-EU Protection Agreement (EVIPA); supporting Vietnam in effectively implementing the Just Energy Transition Partnership (JETP) to achieve the goal of bringing net emissions to zero by 2050; and requesting the European Commission (EC) to consider removing the IUU Yellow Card for Vietnam's seafood exports.

Discussing the international and regional situation, the General Secretary affirmed that Vietnam welcomes the EU and its member countries to implement a number of cooperation initiatives with the Indo-Pacific region with a balanced approach and many cooperation priorities suitable for countries in the region, including Vietnam.

The two leaders agreed that Vietnam and the EU need to strengthen cooperation within the framework of multilateral forums, contributing to ensuring peace, stability and security in the world, supporting the settlement of disputes in the East Sea by peaceful means, in accordance with international law, including the 1982 UNCLOS, contributing to ensuring peace, stability and freedom of navigation and aviation in the region.

The President of the European Council agreed with the General Secretary's statement that Vietnam is a peace-loving nation, ready to act as a bridge for peace and reconciliation and actively and responsibly participate in resolving regional and global issues.

On this occasion, the General Secretary congratulated the EU and the President of the European Council on the occasion of Europe Day (May 9).

The General Secretary respectfully invited the President of the European Council to visit Vietnam at a suitable time, and the President of the European Council happily accepted the invitation./.

(Vietnam+)

Source: https://www.vietnamplus.vn/viet-nam-la-doi-tac-tru-cot-cua-eu-o-dong-nam-a-post1036083.vnp