Relations with Austria, Italy, Vatican take new steps forward

Last night (July 28), President Vo Van Thuong and his wife, along with a high-ranking Vietnamese delegation, boarded a special plane to return home, successfully concluding their visit to Austria, Italy and the Vatican from July 23 to 28.

Italian President presides over farewell ceremony for President Vo Van Thuong and his wife - Photo: VNA

President Vo Van Thuong 's visit witnessed positive developments in relations between Vietnam and Austria, Italy and the Vatican.

At the geostrategic level, President Sergio Mattarella’s description of Vietnam as a “point of stability” in the Indo- Pacific is significant. This clearly highlights the strategic considerations and importance that Hanoi has in Italy’s policy towards the region, especially in the context of Italy’s recent shift towards the region.

Vietnam - Austria does not stop at the symbolic level

Sharing with Tuoi Tre , Associate Professor Dr. Alfred Gerstl (Chairman of the Austria-Vietnam Friendship Association, an expert on Southeast Asia) said that Austrian politicians were honored and delighted that Austria was the first European country that President Vo Van Thuong visited since taking office in March this year.

This is also the first visit to Austria by a Vietnamese president in 15 years. According to Mr. Alfred Gerstl, the visit of the President is not only highly symbolic but also achieves very specific results.

Mr. Alfred Gerstl cited his visit to the easternmost state of Burgenland, where the President spoke with the state premier and other officials about cooperation related to renewable energy. Burgenland has very innovative companies in the fields of solar and wind energy as well as organic batteries.

During the hour-long discussion, State Premier Hans Peter Doskozil presented the state's renewable energy policies, highlighting the large-scale energy storage facility at the Schattendorf wind and solar park, which the President also visited.

Observing the Austrian media during the days of the President's visit, Mr. Alfred Gerstl noticed that the Austrian press paid special attention to the appearance of the Vietnamese chamber orchestra during the President's visit because Austria is considered the homeland of many musical geniuses.

The fact that Vietnamese and Austrian artists performed together at the reception is further proof of the friendship , potential for cooperation in the fields of culture and people-to-people exchange between the two countries.

Many substantive results in Italy

Leaving Austria, President Vo Van Thuong paid a state visit to Italy from July 25.

"The July 26 meeting between Italian President Sergio Mattarella and President Vo Van Thuong met the high expectations of many people. President Sergio Mattarella emphasized that the relationship is excellent on many levels: political, economic, cultural and the level of cooperation is constantly increasing," Dr. Fabio Figiaconi (Free University of Belgium, specializing in research on Italian and Southeast Asian relations) commented to Tuoi Tre .

During the visit, the two sides also issued a Joint Statement on strengthening the Vietnam - Italy Strategic Partnership.

The economic relationship between the two countries and especially the fact that Vietnam considers Italy as a major economic partner in the EU has attracted a lot of attention in Italy. More importantly, according to Mr. Fabio Figiaconi, the Italian Parliament has passed a law ratifying the Vietnam - EU Investment Protection Agreement to further strengthen economic exchanges between the EU in general and Italy in particular with Vietnam.

In a meeting with the President later, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni also expressed his determination to soon bring bilateral trade turnover to 7 billion USD.

Vatican to soon have permanent representative in Vietnam

At the meeting with Pope Francis on the afternoon of July 27 (local time), President Vo Van Thuong affirmed that the Party and State of Vietnam consistently implement the policy of respecting and ensuring freedom of belief and religion and constantly improving the legal framework to facilitate religious activities, including Catholicism.

The President welcomed the positive contributions of the Vietnamese Catholic community and hoped that the Pope would continue to pay attention and guide Vietnamese Catholic dignitaries and followers to continue to follow the path of attachment and companionship with the State and people for the development and prosperity of the country.

President Vo Van Thuong and Pope Francis assessed the adoption of the "Statutes on the operation of the Permanent Representative and the Permanent Representative Office of the Holy See in Vietnam" as an important step forward in the context of positive development of bilateral relations, the result of exchanges in the spirit of respect, cooperation and mutual understanding.

The two sides believe that the resident representative will make positive contributions to the relationship between the Holy See and the Vietnamese Catholic community as well as to the Vietnam-Holy See relationship. The President affirmed that Vietnam will facilitate the activities of the resident representative in accordance with Vietnamese laws and regulations and the bilateral agreement.

Pope Francis emphasized that the adoption of the above statute is a model of mutual trust and a basis for further promoting and expanding relations in the coming time.

tuoitre.vn