State President Vo Van Thuong and his wife took a photo with Austrian President Alexander Van der Bellen and his wife at the meeting. Photo: VNA

Vietnam follows the foreign policy of independence, self-reliance, diversification and multilateralization. Vietnam wants to be a friend, a reliable partner of all countries, a responsible member in the international community.

This policy has been emphasized by President Vo Van Thuong in talks and meetings with leaders during his official visit to Austria, state visit to Italy and the Vatican, which ended successfully with results beyond expectations.

The visit was appreciated by the leaders of the countries and was warmly received with solemn and special rites.

New path of Vietnam-Austria cooperation

This is the first visit to the Republic of Austria by the President of Vietnam in the past 15 years.

Therefore, President Vo Van Thuong's visit to Vienna this time carried an important mission to continue to implement the foreign policy of the 13th Party Congress on independence, self-reliance, peace, friendship, cooperation and development.

The visit also promoted and deepened bilateral cooperation with the Republic of Austria, promoted Vietnam-European Union (EU) relations and contributed to the relations of EU and Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

State President Vo Van Thuong and Austrian President Alexander Van der Bellen agreed on measures to further strengthen the relationship between Vietnam and Austria in the upcoming journey in all fields.

Appreciating Vietnam's role, President Alexander Van der Bellen affirmed that Vietnam is an important partner of Austria and the EU.

President Vo Van Thuong believed that this visit will create new motivation, strengthen mutual understanding and trust, and create a foundation for the relationship between the two countries to develop strongly in the future.

President Vo Van Thuong and Austrian President Alexander Van der Bellen met with the press after the talks. Photo: VNA

President Vo Van Thuong's visit to Austria was simultaneously reported by most of Austria's major media channels and newspapers. The Vienna.at website quoted President Vo Van Thuong as saying that he hoped that this official visit to Austria would bring the relationship between Vietnam and Austria to a stronger development.

The Austrian Parliament's website quoted the President of the Federal Council of Austria Claudia Arpa, as saying that Austria is interested in expanding a good partnership with Vietnam.

Vietnam-Italy friendship and strategic partnership

The State visit to Italy is also the first visit of President Vo Van Thuong to a member country of the Group of Seven (G7), the EU and a strategic partner of Vietnam.

Italy welcomed President Vo Van Thuong with a valuable gift in bilateral cooperation, which is the ratification of the EU-Vietnam Investment Protection Agreement (EVIPA) by the Italian Parliament, on the occasion of the President's arrival in Rome.

This is not only an outstanding success of the visit, but also meaningful to promote the remaining EU countries to soon ratify the agreement.

Italian President Sergio Mattarella welcomes President Vo Van Thuong. Photo: VNA

President Sergio Mattarella said, "President Vo Van Thuong invited me to visit Vietnam, and I am happy about this invitation because the cooperation between the two countries is not only in politics, economy, culture but also in friendship, sympathy and sharing of the peoples of the two countries."

Quoting the saying of Dante - the famous great poet of Italy and the world, President Vo Van Thuong said "Let's act together to realize our commitments, for the development of the two countries, for the happiness of the two peoples."

According to Foreign Minister Bui Thanh Son, the two sides signed a joint statement on strengthening the Vietnam-Italy strategic partnership.

The joint statement sets out major directions and specific measures to bring the two sides' cooperation into depth and effectiveness, especially in the fields of politics, economy-trade, security-defense, education-training, science-technology, culture, tourism, and people-to-people exchanges.

New history of Vietnam-Vatican relationship

A special factor in this visit of State President Vo Van Thuong and his wife, together with a high-ranking Vietnamese delegation to the Vatican, is that according to the custom, every July, the Pope and the Holy See rarely arrange a reception schedule.

However, the meeting between President Vo Van Thuong and Pope Francis in the last days of July took place longer than expected.

The important result of the visit was the announcement by the two sides of the regulation on the operation of the Holy See's Permanent Representative in Vietnam, marking a new and important development in the Vietnam-Vatican relationship.

State President Vo Van Thuong meets Pope Francis. Photo: VNA

During the meeting with President Vo Van Thuong, Pope Francis affirmed that the Holy See wished the two sides' relations to develop better.

He also encouraged Catholic parishioners and dignitaries in Vietnam to contribute to the development of the country and the Church.

President Vo Van Thuong was touched to learn that, from a young age, in Buenos Aires (Argentina), Pope Francis had always followed the struggle for independence and self-determination of the Vietnamese people. He always cared about, and followed Vietnam, especially during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Accompanying the President during the visit, Vu Hoai Bac, head of the Government Committee for Religious Affairs, said that this visit of State President Vo Van Thuong to the Vatican is of great significance, strengthening trust in policies and religion of the Party and the State of Vietnam.

It also promoted impact on other religions and enhanced the great national unity.

The outstanding, positive and comprehensive results of the friendship are living proof of the success beyond expectations during the official visit of the President of Vietnam to Austria, state visit to Italy and the Vatican.

The visit is a step to create strong motivation for the achievements of cooperation between Vietnam and Austria, Italy and the Vatican in the future.

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