Mr. Renato Darsie recalls how he supported  Vietnam during negotiations (Photo: HT)

(VOVworld) – The Vietnam Union of Friendship Organizations held a meeting in Hanoi this week to mark the 40^th anniversary of signing Paris Accords. Themed “Paris Accords and friends’ heart”, the meeting was a venue of foreign friends who had a strong attachment to anti-war movement as well as supported Vietnam’s independence and freedom. Each of them brought moving stories and their love for Vietnamese people. Renato Darsie from Italy who supported Vietnam in the 1960s recalls: “We held many anti-Vietnam-war movements, such as movements of students, workers, and associations. At that time, we organized blood donation movement for Vietnamese people, but only in areas controlled by the Communist Party. We had to go to Yugoslavia to donate blood and then asked Yugoslavians to transfer blood to the Vietnamese people.”

The event not only outlined anti-war movements, but also activities by the Vietnamese community abroad for the national independence and freedom. Nguyen Ngoc Tran, a Vietnamese resident in France, made contributions to the negotiations and the signing of Paris Accords. Mr. Tran said: “Our task is to create all favorable conditions for the two Vietnamese delegations in Paris. Moreover, we promoted activities of overseas Vietnamese to transmit news of negotiations to Vietnam. We spared no effort to create the solidarity of overseas Vietnamese's patriotic movements in the world to strengthen anti-war movements and to demand the US to withdraw.”   

Closing the event, Nguyen Thi Binh, a Vietnamese communist leader, who negotiated at the Paris Peace Conference, was very touched when she heard international friends’ stories, and a song that mentioned her name American youths sang in anti-Vietnam-war protests. Binh said: “International solidarity movement is a key factor contributing to Vietnam’s victory. And today, on behalf of the Vietnamese people, I want to show deep gratitude to international friends. And I hope that our friendship will be better with every passing day.”