Jean Pierre Archambault, General Secretary of the France-Vietnam Friendship Association (AAFV) (Photo: VNA) Commenting on Vietnam'sefforts in international integration and people-to-people diplomacydevelopment, Archambault said Vietnam won two wars, making a hallmark in the world historyof the 20th century - the Dien Bien Phu victory that ended the struggleagainst the French colonialists in 1954 and the victory in theresistance war against US imperialism in 1975.
These victories showed Vietnam’s success in struggling and mobilisinginternational support and solidarity, and its integration into the anti-oppressionmovement of peoples around the world, he said.
After 1975, Vietnam helped Cambodia to overthrow the Pol Pot genocidal regime and struggled for the lifting of the trade embargo of the US and Western countries thatlasted until 1994.
Archambault affirmed that all of these have forged Vietnam's strong political willto fully integrate into the international community.
The most convincing evidence of this success is that at the73rd United Nations General Assembly (UN), Vietnam was elected as anon-permanent member of the UN Security Council for the 2020-2021 term with 192out of 193 votes, he noted.
Regarding people-to-people diplomacy, Vietnam has also received great supportfrom friendship and solidarity associations around the world, including AAFV.
Established in 1961, AAFV has continuously developedcooperative relations with friendship associations with Vietnam to carry out solidarityactivities with the Vietnamese people, such as providing material and spiritualsupport for Vietnamese victims of Agent Orange/dioxin, and support of AAFV’schapters for disadvantaged Vietnamese people.
AAFV has also organised seminars and published the Perspectivemagazine to help the French people understand more about Vietnam, contributingto developing dynamic and effective cooperation models between the twocountries.
Vietnamese Ambassador to France Dinh Toan Thang (Photo: VNA) According to Vietnamese Ambassador to France Dinh ToanThang, along with the Party and State's policies on diplomacy, people-to-peoplediplomacy plays a role as a guideline for the embassy's activities.
The patriotic movement of overseas Vietnamese inFrance founded by President Ho Chi Minh over 100 years ago, has beensupported by the embassy, contributing significantly to the national defenceand construction in the homeland, he said.
In the coming time, the embassy will gather resources to supportfriendship and solidarity associations with Vietnam in France, considering this one of the leading and core factors for maintaining the friendship and partnershipwith the European country, thus mobilisingmore resources to support socio-economic development and perform diplomatic goals of the country, the ambassadorsaid./.
