Vietnam established diplomatic relations with Hungary and Romania in 1950. Looking back over the past 70 years, the Governments and people of the two European countries have always given Vietnam great affection and support in the fight for independence, national reunification, reform, and socio-economic development.
According to Vietnam News Agency, Deputy Foreign Minister Nguyen Minh Hang affirmed that Hungary and Romania have very actively supported Vietnam in developing comprehensive partnership and cooperation between Vietnam and the European Union (EU), especially during the negotiation, signing and ratification of the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) and the EU-Vietnam Investment Protection Agreement (EVIPA).
Deputy Minister Nguyen Minh Hang stated clearly that Vietnam deeply appreciates and is grateful for that precious love and support.
The room for strengthening cooperation between Vietnam and Hungary and Romania is very open, especially in the context of EVFTA creating many new cooperation opportunities. As EU members, Romania and Hungary can become gateways to bring Vietnamese goods into Europe, and Vietnam also creates conditions for these European countries to access the ASEAN market.
During the strong outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, Hungary showed its sharing spirit with Vietnam by supporting Vietnam with more than 200,000 doses of vaccines and many medical equipment, ceding more than 400,000 doses of vaccines, contributed to helping Vietnam overcome the epidemic soon.
Regarding development cooperation, since 2003, Hungary has put Vietnam on the priority list to receive official development aid (ODA). Hungary is the country providing the largest ODA capital to Vietnam in the Central Eastern European region.
Good cooperation results through many agreements on economics, agriculture, science-technology, environment... have helped strengthen the Comprehensive Partnership between the two countries.
Education and training is a bright spot in Vietnam-Hungary relations. Hungary has helped Vietnam train thousands of experts and engineers and is currently the country that grants the most scholarships to Vietnam among EU countries.
During a meeting with Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh on the occasion of attending the World Climate Action Summit within the framework of the 28th Conference of the Parties (COP28) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in December 2023, Hungarian President Katalin Novak emphasised that Hungary always appreciated the role and position of Vietnam in general and of the Vietnamese community in Hungary in particular, and affirmed that Hungary committed to maintaining scholarships for Vietnamese students studying and researching in this country.
Meanwhile, Romania is a time-honoured friend and has good friendly and cooperative relations with Vietnam. The close relationship between the two peoples has been affirmed during the course of cooperation over the past 70 years, especially clearly shown during the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Despite geographical distance and facing challenges from the epidemic, Romania is the first EU member country to support 300,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccine for Vietnam.
Continuing the fine tradition cultivated through historical periods, in recent years, the multifaceted cooperative relationship between Vietnam and Romania has continuously expanded and deepened in the fields of politics and foreign affairs, trade, agriculture, industry, labour, tourism, education-training... and reap proud achievements.
Despite being affected by the COVID-19 epidemic, two-way trade in 2022 still increased by 15% compared to the previous year. Since 2010, Romania has been classified as one of Vietnam's major seafood export markets.
The relationship between Vietnam and Hungary and Romania is facing the opportunity to develop even stronger in the coming time. The time-honoured friendship and good cooperation over the past 70 years will be a solid foundation for the relationship between Vietnam and the two European countries to become more effective.
