Bulletins Friendship and cooperration
In Vietnam, when it comes to Greece, everyone probably knows about the myths and origins of the Olympic Games. This country is located in Southern Europe in the Balkan peninsular with the largest coastline in Europe (13,676km) due to a total of about 3000 islands located in the Ionian Sea, the Mediterranean Sea and the Aegean Sea.
Greece was one of the most brilliant civilizations of ancient time, having had a great influence on other civilizations around the Mediterranean region as well as created many legacies and achievements in art, culture and science, etc. In the Middle-Ages, Greece became part of the Byzantine Empire, and then the Ottoman Empire for nearly four centuries. In March 1821, Greeks revolted and fought for independence. This war lasted until 1829 when the independence of young Greece was officially recognized in the Protocol of London. In 1832, the Ottoman Empire had to recognize Greece’s independence in the Treaty of Constantinople. After independence, Greece's economy grew rapidly as political reforms were implemented, making it the developed country as we see today.
Although Vietnam and Greece are far from each other in terms of geographical location, we have a long-standing traditional friendship relationship. Previously, the Greek people strongly supported Vietnam’s just war of independence and reunification. Many Greek politicians and people showed great sympathy to Vietnam and support for its struggle for national liberation in the 60s and 70s of the last century. A well-known symbol of Vietnam-Greece friendship is Hero of the Vietnamese People’s Armed Forces Kostas Sarantidis Nguyen Van Lap.He was sent to Vietnam as member of a French legionnaire in 1946. However, he soon realized what was righteous, so he contacted the Viet Minh Front and joined the forces of the Vietnamese resistance against the French. Not only did he fight bravely on the battlefield, but he also made excellent achievements when carried out other tasks. He was honored to be admitted into the Vietnam Workers’ Party, and was awarded many medals by the Party and State of Vietnam and the title of Hero of the Vietnam People’s Armed Forces. Back in Greece in 1965, he always considered Vietnam as his second homeland and continued to dedicate himself to the Vietnam-Greece friendship until his death in 2021.
Since the two countries established diplomatic relations on April 15, 1975, the relations between Vietnam and Greece have developed strongly and comprehensively in many fields. Over the years, the two sides have continued to closely coordinate and support each other at the United Nations, international forums or ASEM. Greece supports Vietnam in the process of negotiating the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA), the EU-Vietnam Partnership and Comprehensive Cooperation Framework Agreement (PCA). It encouraged the EU to recognize Vietnam as a market economy and exerted a positive impact on the European Commission (EC) to give Vietnam the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP). In November 2021, during her official visit to Greece, Vice President of State of Vietnam Vo Thi Anh Xuan had a meeting with Greek President Katerina Sakellaropoulou. Greece’s top leader said that, with its current geographical position and development achievements, Vietnam had an increasingly important international and regional role. At the same time, she affirmed that Greece always supported strengthening the all-round relations with Vietnam. The two leaders agreed that in the coming time, it would be necessary to strengthen the exchange of delegations and contacts at all levels, especially high-level, in order to build orientations for effective and diversified development of the bilateral relations, and to expand the two nations’ cooperation in economics, trade, investment, culture and tourism. At the meeting, the Greek President announced her decision to donate 250,000 doses of AstraZeneca’s vaccine to Vietnam to support the prevention of the COVID-19 pandemic. Vice President Vo Thi Anh Xuan expressed her sincere thanks and appreciation for this decision of Greece, which demonstrated the good sentiments and loyal friendship between the two nations.
In an exchange with General Secretary of the Communist Party of Greece Dimitrios Koutsoumpas, Vice President Vo Thi Anh Xuan informed him of the goals and development orientation of the Communist Party of Vietnam in the 2021-2025 period and a vision toward the year 2030 and 2045. The two sides agreed to maintain the regular bilateral consultation and cooperation mechanisms between the two Parties and the two countries, and promote cultural and people-to-people exchanges in order to bring the already good relations between the two countries to a higher level. At the Vietnam - Greece business seminar, Vice President Vo Thi Anh Xuan affirmed that it was a golden time for Vietnam and Greece to work closely together to bring the good traditional relationship between the two countries to the next new height in economics, trade and investment. The two sides need to promote trade in strong produce in the fields that both sides have needs and potentialities for development such as shipping and logistics, shipbuilding, seaport exploitation, tourism, and agricultural product- processing, etc.
Vietnam and Greece share many similarities in history as well as in the construction and development of the country. The good traditional friendship over the past 46 years is a solid premise for consolidating and developing their multifaceted cooperation in the coming time.
Bao Anh