On the afternoon of May 26, at the headquarters of the Ministry of Defense, General Phan Van Giang - Member of the Politburo, Deputy Secretary of the Central Military Commission, Minister of Defense of Vietnam - met the Minister of French army Sebastien Lecornu on the occasion of accompanying French President Emmanuel Macron and his wife visiting the state level to Vietnam.
At the meeting, General Phan Van Giang highly appreciated the increasingly positive new developments in Vietnam - France relations, especially the two countries upgrading their relations to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership during the official visit to the French Republic by General Secretary and President To Lam (October 2024).
General Phan Van Giang emphasized that bilateral defense cooperation continues to be consolidated and developed in a practical and effective manner in many fields, in line with the agreed high-level leaders of the two countries and the two Ministries of National Defense, as well as the signed cooperation documents, notably delegation exchanges, training, United Nations peacekeeping, defense industry, etc.
General Phan Van Giang affirmed that there is still much potential for defense cooperation between the two Ministries of National Defense. In the coming time, based on the Protocol signed on the morning of May 26, General Phan Van Giang suggested that the two sides continue to well implement cooperation orientations based on the common perception of the two countries' senior leaders and annual cooperation programs.
In particular, focusing on a number of contents such as exchanges and contacts at all levels, especially at high levels; promoting the effectiveness of strategic dialogue and defense cooperation mechanisms; military medicine, hydrology, training, historical memories cooperation; searching for missing soldiers in war; exchanging souvenirs; rescue - relief; cooperation between military, branches, and marine security; maintaining United Nations peacekeeping; continuing to coordinate and support each other at regional and world security forums...
Thereby, contributing to promoting defense cooperation between the two countries to become increasingly in-depth, effective and substantial, for the benefit of each country, for the common peace, stability and development of the region and the world, worthy of being an important pillar in the Vietnam - France Comprehensive Strategic Partnership.
At the meeting, French Minister of the Army Sebastien Lecornu expressed his pleasure at his second visit to Vietnam.
Minister Sebastien Lecornu respectfully thanked General Phan Van Giang for his warm welcome, and affirmed that the meeting between the two Ministers is an important milestone demonstrating the good development in the relationship between the two countries; emphasizing that past memories are the foundation for future cooperation. Vietnam and France share their desire for peace, respect international law and mutual respect.
