Vietnam, Portugal strengthen legislative ties
(VOVworld) – Vice Chairman of the National Assembly Uong Chu Luu has asked for Portugal’s continued cooperation to lift bilateral friendship to a new height. Meeting with Vice President of the Portuguese Parliament Antonio Filipe in Lisbon on Thursday, Luu expressed his hope that Portugal will help Vietnam boost its relations with the European Union and its member countries to gain the EU’s early approval of the Vietnam-EU Cooperation Agreement (PCA), sign the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement Partnership (EUVFTA), and win EU recognition of Vietnam’s market economy. He informed the host about China’s illegal placement its oil rig Haiyang-981 deep inside Vietnam’s exclusive economic zone and continental shelf, a serious violation of Vietnam’s sovereignty, sovereign rights, and jurisdiction and international law.
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| A ship of China Coast Guard rams into a Vietnamese ship. (Photo: VNA) |
Filipe said Communist parliamentarians in the Portuguese parliament are keeping a close eye on the tension caused by China’s action which is affecting regional stability. He promised to make Portuguese parliamentarians properly understand the current situation and call for their support for Vietnamese people’s just struggle. Filipe added that he will ask leaders of the Portuguese parliament to set up a Portugal-Vietnam Friendship Parliamentarians’ Group and suggested forming a similar group in Vietnam.