Vietnam, EU bolster defense ties with crisis management framework pact

The Framework Participation Agreement was signed by Defense Minister Ngo Xuan Lich and EU’s foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini in Brussels, Belgium.

A Foreign Ministry press release said the agreement would establish a legal framework for Vietnam's participation in EU-led civilian and military crisis management operations.

The signing is also an important development in the Vietnam-EU relationship and shows greater ambition on both sides to effectively utilize their partnership and their defense and security cooperation, it said.

The EU’s Common Security and Defense Policy provides the bloc with the capacity to deploy civilian and military operations, while Framework Participation Agreements are an instrument to strengthen the involvement of EU’s partners.

It also provides the tools to directly act to manage conflicts and crisis, with a focus on legal and security reform, stability and combat against organized crime. The missions are engaged in under international law at the request for assistance made to a country.

Vietnam is the second country in Asia, after South Korea, and the first in ASEAN to sign such an agreement with the EU.