President Võ Văn Thưởng, who is Chairman of the Council of National Defence and Security (centre), Prime Minister Phạm Minh Chính - Vice Chairman of the Council (left), and National Assembly Chairman Vương Đình Huệ - Member of the Council at the 4th meeting of the council held on Thursday in Hà Nội. — VNA/VNS Photo Thống Nhất

HÀ NỘI — Politburo member, President Võ Văn Thưởng, who is Chairman of the Council of National Defence and Security, on Thursday chaired the 4th meeting of the council.

The meeting also saw the attendance of Politburo members: Prime Minister Phạm Minh Chính - Vice Chairman of the Council, National Assembly Chairman Vương Đình Huệ - Member of the Council, Minister of Public Security Gen. Tô Lâm - Member of the Council, and Minister of National Defence Gen. Phan Văn Giang - Member of the Council, among others.

At the meeting, the council discussed and gave opinions on the results achieved in various fields, especially national defence, security, and foreign affairs, over the past time.

Participants in the meeting analysed and assessed the world and regional situation and its impacts and influence on Vietnam. They proposed the agenda and tasks for the council in 2024.

The council agreed that its meetings in 2024 will focus on important, strategic issues related to national defence, security, and foreign affairs. Based on the results of the discussions, it will propose suggestions to the Politburo, the National Assembly, and the Government.

On behalf of the council, President Thưởng praised the military, police, and diplomatic forces for completing political tasks and achieving many important and comprehensive results.

He said that the world situation is expected to continue developing complicatedly and unpredictably, so the forces and relevant agencies will have to continue to uphold the achieved results, closely follow and effectively implement the policies, guidelines, and decisions of the Politburo and the Secretariat of the Party Central Committee, the National Assembly and the Government as well as the direction of Party General Secretary Nguyễn Phú Trọng on national defence, security and foreign affairs.

They were asked to focus on implementing the Resolution of the 8th plenum of the 13th Party Central Committee on the strategy to protect the Fatherland in the new situation, meeting the requirements of firmly protecting the independence, sovereignty, unity, and territorial integrity of the Fatherland, ensuring national security, maintaining social order and safety, and stepping up comprehensive and extensive international integration.

President Thưởng emphasised that in the coming time, the council needs to continue to closely follow, monitor, proactively grasp, study, analyse, evaluate, and forecast the world, regional, and domestic situation, especially emerging strategic issues that affect Việt Nam's national defence and security so that it can properly propose policies and solutions to the Party and the State.

It is also necessary to focus on protecting the Party's ideological foundation and fighting hostile forces; and continuing to promote the tradition and strength of the great national unity bloc in the cause of national construction and protection, he stressed. — VNS