Press statement by President Costa following the meeting with Viet Nam’s President Lương Cường 05:25 European Council President António Costa had a meeting with President of[...]

It is a great honour to be here in Hanoi and thank you, dear President, for your warm welcome. Let me start by congratulating you for a successful 14th National Party Congress earlier this week.

The European Union is committed to strengthening and deepening our partnership, building on mutual respect and shared goals. For 35 years, our partnership has grown in depth and ambition. And today, we reach a significant new milestone. We are elevating our relationship to the highest level, a "Comprehensive Strategic Partnership".

This upgrade fully captures the depth and breadth of our collaboration to date, and our expectations for its future evolution - on trade, on green and digital transition, on security, on people-to-people ties. This decision reflects not only how far we have come, but how closely our future is now linked. This upgrade recognises the reality of that partnership as resilient, dynamic, and increasingly strategic. With this upgrade, we also adopt a joint statement which will be our roadmap for the work ahead.

This is the EU's first Comprehensive Strategic Partnership in Southeast Asia. It underlines the importance we attach to the region and to Vietnam's growing role within it. It also reflects our determination to be a credible, long-term partner in the Indo-Pacific; one that is engaged, principled, and present.

We do not see eye to eye on all issues. As real partners, we discuss openly and frankly the issues where we have different views, including on human rights or Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine. But we both fully support multilateralism and the United Nations Charter, namely the principles of independence, territorial integrity and sovereignty. Principles that I know have particular resonance in the history of Viet Nam.

Today, when I visited the Ho Chi Minh memorial, I read inscribed on the wall a very important message: "Nothing more important than independence and freedom". And that's why in our joint statement, we emphasise the importance of achieving a comprehensive, just and sustainable peace in Ukraine.

Our economic ties already demonstrate what this partnership can achieve. The EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement has deepened integration and created growth on both sides. It will be good to see a first-hand example of how we can deliver real benefits through our partnership. This afternoon, I will visit the Hanoi Metro, which was developed with co-investment from the European Union. The result of the technologies and expertise of leading European industrial companies, working closely with Vietnamese partners.

And we can do much more. In trade, in clean energy, in the blue economy, in security and defence and so many other sectors.

At a moment when international rules-based order is under threat from multiple sides, we need to stand side by side as reliable and predictable partners. It is about developing spheres of shared prosperity. But it is also about the credibility of international rules. That is why our partnership matters beyond our own regions.

In the same way, a free, open and rules-based Indo-Pacific is indispensable for global security and sustainable trade. The EU-Vietnam partnership also strengthens our ability to act together on issues that matter to us all. From resilient and sustainable supply chains to the green and digital transitions; from maritime security and regional stability to cooperation in global institutions.

Above all, today's decision is about the future. It is about investing in a relationship that is open, balanced, and built to last. We look ahead with confidence, ambition, and a clear sense of purpose.

On behalf of the European Union, I welcome this new chapter in our relationship with Vietnam.

Thank you.

• Joint statement on upgrading relations between the European Union and Viet Nam to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership