Croatian Ambassador to Hungary Mladen Andrlić (second from right) presents donation of COVID-19 vaccines to Vietnamese Ambassador to Hungary Nguyễn Thị Bích Thảo (third from left). — VNA/VNS Photo

PRAGUE — Vietnamese Ambassador to Hungary Nguyễn Thị Bích Thảo received a token representing 60,000 doses of AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine donated by the Croatian Government to Việt Nam at a ceremony held in Budapest, Hungary on Tuesday (local time).

At the handover ceremony, Croatian Ambassador to Hungary Mladen Andrlić affirmed that Croatia always treasures the traditional friendship with Việt Nam and hopes to help the Southeast Asian nation surmount the COVID-19 pandemic.

Ambassador Thảo extended her thanks to the Croatian government and people for their support, underlining that the assistance serves as proof of the countries’ time-honoured friendship.

Deputy State Secretary of Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade of Hungary István Joó presents the symbolic token representing its transfer of 400,000 doses of AstraZeneca to Việt Nam. — VNA/VNS Photo

Earlier, the Vietnamese diplomat received a token of 400,000 doses of AstraZeneca vaccine that the Hungarian Government transferred to Việt Nam under a non-profit mechanism.

At the event, Deputy State Secretary of Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade of Hungary István Joó underlined that Hungary stands ready to assist Việt Nam, an important partner of the European country in Asia.

In September, Hungary presented Việt Nam with 100,000 doses of AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine and 100,000 antigen test kits.

National flag carrier Vietnam Airlines is set to send aircraft to bring the vaccine batch home on Wednesday, along with 12.5 tonnes of medical supplies worth US$380,000 donated by Vietnamese-Hungarian entrepreneur Vũ Quý Dương, who is also head of the Vietnamese Association in Hungary.

The association has launched a campaign to support the COVID-19 fight at home since August and raised VNĐ850 million ($37,360) to help frontline workers and pandemic-hit people in HCM City and Bình Dương, the two biggest hot spots in the country during the fourth wave of infections. — VNS